Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Receives $606.89 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $606.8889.

Several research firms have weighed in on MUSA. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $380.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total transaction of $552,436.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,774.12. This represents a 68.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 121.4% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 4,680 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,522,000 after buying an additional 2,566 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter worth approximately $1,724,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 10,390,148 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 14.6% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,062 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $509.12 on Tuesday. Murphy USA has a twelve month low of $349.83 and a twelve month high of $636.04. The firm has a market cap of $9.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $573.94 and a 200-day moving average of $523.42.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $1.32. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 96.01%. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.36 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA will post 33.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 24th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.92%.

About Murphy USA

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.