Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Down 9.3% – Here’s What Happened

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)’s share price was down 9.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $515.01 and last traded at $527.0750. Approximately 42,170 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 332,518 shares. The stock had previously closed at $580.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $619.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.89.

Murphy USA Trading Down 2.9%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $576.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $509.73. The company has a market cap of $9.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.28.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $1.32. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.03 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 96.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This represents a 25.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. The trade was a 5.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 4,567 shares of company stock worth $2,494,673 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $876,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Kenora Financial LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 3.3% during the first quarter. Kenora Financial LLC now owns 654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Enhancing Capital LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Enhancing Capital LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in Murphy USA by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 3.0% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 864 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy USA

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.