Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Receives $495.33 Average Price Target from Analysts

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $495.33.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James upped their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 business. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 391 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Murphy USA by 5.6% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 580 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Murphy USA by 7.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MUSA stock traded down $1.24 on Wednesday, hitting $527.97. The stock had a trading volume of 102,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,463. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78 and a beta of 0.75. Murphy USA has a 1 year low of $350.55 and a 1 year high of $552.30. The company's 50 day moving average price is $496.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $480.79.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.69 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Murphy USA will post 23.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This is a boost from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is 7.92%.

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.