Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Given New $633.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan lowered Murphy USA’s price target to $633 from $655 while maintaining an “overweight” rating, implying approximately 20.3% upside from the reported $526.17 share price.
• Murphy USA reported quarterly EPS of $11.27, exceeding estimates of $9.95, while revenue rose 36% year over year to $6.81 billion and surpassed expectations.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $606.89; institutional investors own 80.81% of the company.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $655.00 to $633.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the specialty retailer's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price points to a potential upside of 20.30% from the stock's current price.

MUSA has been the topic of several other reports. KeyCorp raised their price target on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Murphy USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $619.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $606.89.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock traded down $10.01 on Friday, reaching $526.17. The stock had a trading volume of 213,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 336,273. The business's 50-day moving average price is $575.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $509.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. Murphy USA has a fifty-two week low of $349.83 and a fifty-two week high of $636.04. The stock has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.28.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.03 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 102.84%. Murphy USA's revenue was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 32.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In related news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total value of $297,011.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,245. This represents a 50.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,567 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,673. 9.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $915,734,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 149.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $204,753,000 after buying an additional 304,354 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $204,267,000 after acquiring an additional 7,973 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Murphy USA by 45.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 318,473 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $128,511,000 after acquiring an additional 99,798 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Murphy USA by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 300,758 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $121,365,000 after acquiring an additional 1,930 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.

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