Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Murphy USA from “strong buy” to “buy,” while analysts overall maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $606.89.
• Murphy USA reported strong quarterly results, posting $11.27 in EPS versus the $9.95 estimate and $6.81 billion in revenue, up 36% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company, while recent insider transactions involved selling by a director and senior vice president.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on MUSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Murphy USA from $655.00 to $633.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Capital One Financial assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $710.00 price target for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $606.89.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA stock opened at $516.21 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $541.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $542.82. The company has a market capitalization of $9.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.29. Murphy USA has a 52-week low of $349.83 and a 52-week high of $636.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $1.32. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 96.01%. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.36 earnings per share. Murphy USA's revenue for the quarter was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Murphy USA will post 34.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total value of $552,436.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 449 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,774.12. This represents a 68.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.60, for a total value of $52,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,947.20. The trade was a 28.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $915,734,000. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 7,973 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter worth about $78,372,000. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 23.2% during the first quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 146,119 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $71,986,000 after acquiring an additional 27,513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 21,322.2% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 103,041 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $55,526,000 after acquiring an additional 102,560 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA Inc operates a nationwide network of retail gasoline stations and convenience stores in the United States. Its stores sell branded and unbranded motor fuel, tobacco products, nicotine products, beverages, snacks, packaged food, and other convenience items. Some locations also offer additional services such as lottery products and car washes.

The company operates stores under the Murphy USA and Murphy Express brands, primarily in proximity to Walmart stores and along major roads.

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