Murphy USA Inc. (MUSA) - What Are Analysts Saying About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analysts give Murphy USA a “Moderate Buy” consensus: Six of 11 analysts rate the stock a buy and five recommend holding it; the average 12-month price target is $606.33.
• Quarterly results beat expectations: Murphy USA reported EPS of $9.59 versus an $8.37 consensus and revenue of $6.89 billion versus $6.25 billion, with revenue up 34.8% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.65 to $0.72 per share, equivalent to an annualized $2.88 dividend and a 0.6% yield.

Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $606.33.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Murphy USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Murphy USA from $633.00 to $626.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $612.00 to $621.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Murphy USA from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $520.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.87. Murphy USA has a 52 week low of $352.42 and a 52 week high of $636.04. The firm has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.31. The firm's fifty day moving average is $521.64 and its 200-day moving average is $516.65.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The specialty retailer reported $9.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.37 by $1.22. The business had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.25 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 92.81% and a net margin of 2.85%. Murphy USA's quarterly revenue was up 34.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Murphy USA will post 35.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Murphy USA's payout ratio is currently 8.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Goebel sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.36, for a total value of $511,360.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $407,042.56. The trade was a 55.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Donald Smith, Jr. sold 1,460 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $515.65, for a total transaction of $752,849.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,945,702.55. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,526 shares of company stock worth $1,869,005 in the last 90 days. 9.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter worth approximately $1,724,000. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 146,119 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $71,986,000 after purchasing an additional 27,513 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,771,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,358,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,062,000. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

About Murphy USA

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