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

22 Oct 2024, 07:02 by Mitch Edgeman · The Markets Daily

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James upped their target price on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $464.57.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Murphy USA

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MUSA opened at $479.68 on Friday. Murphy USA has a 1-year low of $350.55 and a 1-year high of $552.30. The company has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $502.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $472.07.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.02 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 24.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction 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 $8,242,955.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666 over the last three months. 9.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $102,797,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Murphy USA by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 204,363 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $95,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 141,637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $66,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,635 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 127,160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $53,305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,011 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $45,543,000 after acquiring an additional 12,336 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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