Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Stephens lowered their price target on Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Friday, January 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. Finally, KeyCorp set a $500.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $447.33.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.1%

Murphy USA stock opened at $505.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $424.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $402.71. Murphy USA has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $523.09.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $0.86. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 75.75% and a net margin of 2.43%.The business had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 2,844 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.61, for a total transaction of $1,105,206.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,198,084.63. This trade represents a 47.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,155 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $395.19, for a total value of $456,444.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,543 shares in the company, valued at $609,778.17. This trade represents a 42.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 14,970 shares of company stock worth $6,212,365 over the last quarter. 10.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 318.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 424,818 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $164,940,000 after buying an additional 323,331 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 149.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,753,000 after acquiring an additional 304,354 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $93,967,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 676.7% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $69,243,000 after acquiring an additional 148,301 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1,723.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 132,450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $53,446,000 after acquiring an additional 125,185 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.