Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Price Target Raised to $570.00

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $520.00 to $570.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

MUSA has been the topic of several other research reports. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $585.11.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $618.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.37, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.30. Murphy USA has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $636.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $564.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $496.66.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.63 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA will post 32.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total value of $94,879.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $285,838. The trade was a 24.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total value of $24,773,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 342,212 shares in the company, valued at $204,286,875.52. This represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392. 9.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 149.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,753,000 after buying an additional 304,354 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 676.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $69,243,000 after acquiring an additional 148,301 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at $50,726,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1,723.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 132,450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $53,446,000 after acquiring an additional 125,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position 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 worth $128,511,000 after acquiring an additional 99,798 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.