Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Receives $457.50 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $457.50.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Stephens dropped their price target on Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $438.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.40. Murphy USA has a one year low of $345.23 and a one year high of $523.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $412.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $393.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $0.86. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 75.75% and a net margin of 2.43%.The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.96 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 10.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In related news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,155 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $395.19, for a total transaction of $456,444.45. Following the sale, the director owned 1,543 shares in the company, valued at $609,778.17. This represents a 42.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Malynda K. West sold 3,967 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $1,785,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at $52,825,050. This represents a 3.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,833 shares of company stock worth $6,154,491. 9.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 149.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,753,000 after purchasing an additional 304,354 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 506,214 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,267,000 after buying an additional 7,973 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 0.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 446,654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $181,732,000 after buying an additional 3,447 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $164,940,000 after acquiring an additional 323,331 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 45.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 318,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $128,511,000 after acquiring an additional 99,798 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

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.