Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Stock Price Down 10.2% on Analyst Downgrade

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) dropped 10.2% during trading on Thursday after Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $467.00 to $445.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Murphy USA traded as low as $397.80 and last traded at $399.2810. Approximately 417,109 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 41% from the average daily volume of 295,458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $444.85.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Stephens lifted their target price on Murphy USA from $425.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, December 29th. KeyCorp set a $500.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $375.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $463.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total transaction of $1,721,675.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,890,325. This represents a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 24,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total transaction of $9,431,434.89. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 131,024 shares in the company, valued at $49,963,381.92. This represents a 15.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $17,349,722 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 491,641 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $200,000,000 after buying an additional 95,259 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 446,654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $181,732,000 after acquiring an additional 3,447 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 318.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 424,818 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $164,940,000 after acquiring an additional 323,331 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 298,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $116,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $93,967,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $414.41 and a 200-day moving average of $393.68. The company has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.88 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 69.87%. The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Murphy USA

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.