Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $474.00.

A number of research firms have weighed in on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murphy USA news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 16,250 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total value of $6,196,612.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 59,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,564,058.76. The trade was a 21.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter worth $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 317.6% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 1,925.0% during the 2nd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 81 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $410.44 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.69 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $381.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $391.50. Murphy USA has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $523.09.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.60 by $0.65. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.11 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 69.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.20 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.63%.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.