Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy”: Six of 11 analysts recommend buying Murphy USA, while five rate it a hold. The average 12-month price target is $606.89, above the reported $567.61 share price.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: Murphy USA reported adjusted EPS of $11.27 versus the $9.95 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 36% year over year to $6.81 billion.
• The company raised its dividend: The quarterly payout increased from $0.64 to $0.65 per share, equivalent to $2.60 annually and a 0.5% yield. Insiders have sold 5,016 shares worth approximately $2.75 million over the past 90 days.

Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $606.8889.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MUSA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $619.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $567.61 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The firm has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $576.08 and a 200-day moving average of $520.83. Murphy USA has a 12-month low of $349.83 and a 12-month high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $1.32. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 96.01% and a net margin of 2.87%.The business had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.36 earnings per share. Murphy USA's revenue for the quarter was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA will post 33.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. Murphy USA's payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 53,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,632,263.52. This represents a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,016 shares of company stock worth $2,750,098. 9.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $792,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter worth about $603,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $596,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $227,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Murphy USA

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source