Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Receives $495.33 Average Price Target from Analysts

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $495.33.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 49,501.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,664,000 after purchasing an additional 388,090 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter worth about $53,387,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $863,116,000 after purchasing an additional 99,253 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 1,359.6% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 93,326 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $43,813,000 after purchasing an additional 86,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the third quarter worth approximately $30,122,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:MUSA opened at $540.49 on Friday. 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $507.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $496.33. The firm has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30 and a beta of 0.78.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.69 EPS. Murphy USA’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA will post 23.59 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 7.92%.

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.