Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

MUSA has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $464.57.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $480.32 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $504.30 and a 200 day moving average of $470.45. Murphy USA has a 1 year low of $350.55 and a 1 year high of $552.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Murphy USA will post 24.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total transaction of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,955,423.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 777.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 141.4% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 40.4% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 1st quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 82.1% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

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.