Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Price Target to $460.00

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $440.00 to $460.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on MUSA. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the company from $375.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $408.60.

Murphy USA Stock Up 1.1 %

Murphy USA stock opened at $417.40 on Friday. Murphy USA has a fifty-two week low of $267.61 and a fifty-two week high of $430.83. The stock has a market cap of $8.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $412.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $380.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.79 by $1.21. The firm had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 70.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.21 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Murphy USA will post 26.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 6.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total value of $2,837,410.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,700.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total value of $2,837,410.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,700.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total transaction of $275,925.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,002,722.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,440 shares of company stock valued at $4,244,582 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 801 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in Murphy USA by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,011 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $717,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 643 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Murphy USA by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 499 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 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.