Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $554.61 and last traded at $554.61, with a volume of 2949 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $545.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on MUSA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $495.33.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $11.23 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $497.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $487.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.92%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 11.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 9.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. FMR LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $863,116,000 after buying an additional 99,253 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $291,068,000 after acquiring an additional 8,507 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 388,090 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 4.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 388,271 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,407,000 after acquiring an additional 16,006 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Murphy USA by 0.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $102,797,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

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.