Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Stock Price Down 3.2% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Murphy USA shares fell 3.2% to about $549.55 on unusually light trading volume, well below the consensus analyst price target of $606.89.
• The company delivered a strong quarter, reporting EPS of $11.27 versus $9.95 expected and revenue of $6.81 billion, up 36% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, while Murphy USA increased its quarterly dividend to $0.65 per share; however, insiders have sold roughly $2.75 million of stock over the past three months.

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 3.2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $545.19 and last traded at $549.5490. 42,760 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 329,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $567.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $619.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Murphy USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $606.89.

Murphy USA Trading Down 3.0%

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 business's fifty day moving average is $576.08 and its 200-day moving average is $520.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.28.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. The company 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 96.01%. Murphy USA's revenue for the quarter was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $7.36 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 33.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 24th. Murphy USA's payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total value of $552,436.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 449 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,774.12. The trade was a 68.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This trade represents a 25.41% decrease in their position. 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 have sold a total of 5,016 shares of company stock worth $2,750,098 in the last three months. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Murphy USA by 49,904.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 10,410,968 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $5,610,158,000 after purchasing an additional 10,390,148 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 14.6% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,062 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,217,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 3.2% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 802 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. AlphaGrep UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at about $422,000. Finally, denkapparat Operations GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 130.5% during the 2nd quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH now owns 1,918 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,034,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares during the period. 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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