Analysts Set Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Price Target at $495.33

Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $495.33.

MUSA has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 6.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 35,240 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $17,369,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,573,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth $4,566,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Murphy USA by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,546 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Murphy USA by 14.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,011 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $45,543,000 after purchasing an additional 12,336 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $540.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.94 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30 and a beta of 0.78. Murphy USA has a twelve month low of $350.55 and a twelve month high of $561.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $507.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $496.33.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.69 EPS. Murphy USA’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 23.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

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.