Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on MUSA. Zacks Research cut Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Murphy USA from $655.00 to $633.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Murphy USA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.3%

Murphy USA stock opened at $535.85 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $529.14 and a 200-day moving average of $547.73. Murphy USA has a one year low of $349.83 and a one year high of $636.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $9.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.29.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 96.01% and a net margin of 2.87%. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.36 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Murphy USA will post 34.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 24th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.92%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other news, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 100 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.60, for a total transaction of $52,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,947.20. The trade was a 28.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total value of $552,436.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,774.12. This represents a 68.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 9.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth $915,734,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter worth $78,372,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter worth $54,143,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 21,322.2% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 103,041 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $55,526,000 after acquiring an additional 102,560 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at about $49,320,000. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy USA

Murphy USA Inc is a U.S. operator of retail fuel and convenience stores. The company sells gasoline and diesel fuel along with tobacco products, packaged beverages, snacks, candy, grocery items, general merchandise and other convenience products. Many locations also offer prepared food and related services.

The company operates stores under the Murphy USA and Murphy Express brands, with a network concentrated primarily in the Southern, Southeastern and Midwestern United States. Murphy USA locations are commonly situated near Walmart stores, while Murphy Express sites generally operate as standalone convenience stores.