Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $609.82 and last traded at $575.8740, with a volume of 369286 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $604.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Stephens lowered their target price 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.71.

Murphy USA Trading Down 4.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $480.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.36.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 30.08 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.53, for a total transaction of $343,894.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was 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 directly owned 342,212 shares in the company, valued at $204,286,875.52. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 48,610 shares of company stock valued at $27,574,259. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 318.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 424,818 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $164,940,000 after purchasing an additional 323,331 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 149.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,753,000 after purchasing an additional 304,354 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 676.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $69,243,000 after purchasing an additional 148,301 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth about $50,726,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1,723.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 132,450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $53,446,000 after purchasing an additional 125,185 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.