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

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

MUSA has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of 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 issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $464.57.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $477.60 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $508.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $465.60. The stock has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04 and a beta of 0.77. Murphy USA has a 52 week low of $343.51 and a 52 week high of $552.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.02 EPS. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Murphy USA will post 24.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 382,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,971,533.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 approximately $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1,359.6% during the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 93,326 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $43,813,000 after purchasing an additional 86,932 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 1st quarter valued at $24,493,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth $8,949,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 990.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,955 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,527,000 after purchasing an additional 16,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in Murphy USA by 1,091.4% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 14,464 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,063,000 after purchasing an additional 13,250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.