Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Trading Down 6.4% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Murphy USA shares fell 6.4% on Monday, trading as low as $580.45 after closing at $622.53, though volume was far below average.
• Despite the drop, the stock has received multiple bullish analyst actions recently, including higher price targets and several upgrades; MarketBeat shows an average rating of “Moderate Buy” with a $515.14 target.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $7.28 topping estimates and revenue of $4.82 billion beating forecasts, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.64 per share.

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 6.4% on Monday . The company traded as low as $580.45 and last traded at $582.9720. 18,537 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 342,289 shares. The stock had previously closed at $622.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MUSA. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $539.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Murphy USA from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Murphy USA from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $350.00 to $550.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.14.

Murphy USA Stock Down 6.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.30. The firm's fifty day moving average is $539.95 and its 200-day moving average is $462.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.63 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA's payout ratio is 8.85%.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total value of $24,773,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 342,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,286,875.52. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was 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 directly owned 3,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This represents 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. Insiders sold a total of 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 40.0% in the first quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bull Harbor Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter worth approximately $365,000. Amundi bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter worth approximately $438,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 20.5% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 20,820 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $10,284,000 after buying an additional 3,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 2.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 12,797 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $6,322,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during 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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