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

StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $550.00 price target for the company. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Melius Research raised Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $539.00.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $511.03 on Friday. Murphy USA has a twelve month low of $382.04 and a twelve month high of $561.08. The stock has a market cap of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $469.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $492.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 61.60%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Murphy USA will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.10%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. The trade was a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total value of $395,391.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,864,405 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $935,465,000 after purchasing an additional 54,658 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,783,849 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $895,046,000 after acquiring an additional 32,643 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Murphy USA by 53,469.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 553,906 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $260,231,000 after acquiring an additional 552,872 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 470,602 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $236,125,000 after acquiring an additional 18,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $211,135,000 after purchasing an additional 176,308 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.