Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Murphy USA shares gapped up at the open, rising from a previous close of $538.87 to $565.81 before trading around $550, reflecting strong early market interest.
• Recent analyst activity was mixed, but the consensus remains Moderate Buy with an average price target of $573.88. JPMorgan and Capital One both have overweight ratings, while some firms have recently downgraded the stock.
• The company posted strong quarterly results, including EPS of $7.28 versus expectations of $5.37 and revenue of $4.82 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.64 per share.

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $538.87, but opened at $565.81. Murphy USA shares last traded at $550.3340, with a volume of 27,829 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MUSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $539.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Monday, June 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $710.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut Murphy USA from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $573.88.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $551.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $475.64.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.63 earnings per share. Murphy USA's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.85%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total value of $24,773,840.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 342,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,286,875.52. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total value of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at $1,632,263.52. The trade was a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392. 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 added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 10.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter worth $603,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth $596,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth $227,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

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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