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 issued on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research 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 for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $464.57.

Murphy USA Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $493.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $10.21 billion, a PE ratio of 20.69 and a beta of 0.77. Murphy USA has a 52 week low of $338.36 and a 52 week high of $552.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $509.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $460.27.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Murphy USA will post 24.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.55%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total transaction of $8,621,117.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666. 9.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 777.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Delta Asset Management LLC TN lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 70.7% in the fourth quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 128 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the first quarter valued at about $69,000. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.