Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $495.33.

MUSA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 9.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 126,419 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $61,873,000 after acquiring an additional 11,103 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 122.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,966 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth $374,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at $30,122,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 18.4% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,155 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,721,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $539.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $506.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $494.66. Murphy USA has a 12-month low of $350.55 and a 12-month high of $561.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.69 EPS. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Murphy USA will post 23.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 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.