Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $494.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $514.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $506.79. Murphy USA has a one year low of $350.55 and a one year high of $561.08. The stock has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.69 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Murphy USA will post 23.6 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $863,116,000 after acquiring an additional 99,253 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Murphy USA by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $291,068,000 after buying an additional 8,507 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Murphy USA by 69.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $211,135,000 after acquiring an additional 176,308 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Murphy USA by 49,501.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,664,000 after purchasing an additional 388,090 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 4.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 388,271 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $191,407,000 after purchasing an additional 16,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.