Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $464.57.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of MUSA opened at $499.59 on Thursday. Murphy USA has a 1 year low of $339.96 and a 1 year high of $552.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $509.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $464.05. The firm has a market cap of $10.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.96 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.02 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 24.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 382,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,971,533.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666 over the last 90 days. 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 MUSA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Murphy USA by 0.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $102,797,000 after buying an additional 1,519 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 204,363 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $95,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 1.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 141,637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $66,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 1.2% in the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 127,160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $53,305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 14.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,011 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $45,543,000 after purchasing an additional 12,336 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Murphy USA

Murphy USA Inc engages in marketing of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The company operates retail stores under the Murphy USA, Murphy Express, and QuickChek brands, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.