Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $526.39 and last traded at $526.2070, with a volume of 9422 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $507.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 price objective for the company. Stephens cut their price target on Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $447.33.

Murphy USA Trading Up 3.7%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $432.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $407.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.23.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $0.86. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 75.75% and a net margin of 2.43%.The company had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.38%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 345 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.84, for a total transaction of $139,669.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 352 shares in the company, valued at $142,503.68. This trade represents a 49.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total value of $1,721,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,890,325. This trade represents a 3.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,970 shares of company stock valued at $6,212,365. 9.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 82.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 317.6% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.