Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Lowered to Hold Rating by Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Murphy USA has been downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, with a price target set at $350.00, indicating a potential downside of 3.52% from its current price.
• Multiple analysts have adjusted their ratings on Murphy USA, with Raymond James lowering their recommendation from "outperform" to "market perform" and KeyCorp reducing their price target from $500.00 to $480.00.
• Despite a quarterly earnings report of $7.36 EPS that beat expectations, Murphy USA's revenue for the quarter declined by 8.2% year-over-year, amounting to $5.01 billion.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $350.00 target price on the specialty retailer's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price points to a potential downside of 4.03% from the company's current price.

MUSA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Murphy USA from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Stephens dropped their price target on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Murphy USA from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $476.29.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA traded down $1.46 on Friday, hitting $364.70. 297,780 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 297,192. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $415.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $454.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20. The stock has a market cap of $7.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07 and a beta of 0.43. Murphy USA has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $5.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.17 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 64.63%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, Director David C. Haley bought 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $435.58 per share, with a total value of $435,580.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $435,580. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,783,849 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $895,046,000 after buying an additional 32,643 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake 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 period. Invesco Ltd. grew 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 during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 5.4% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 442,130 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $207,717,000 after purchasing an additional 22,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,760 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $211,667,000 after purchasing an additional 33,489 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

About Murphy USA

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.