Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $495.33.

MUSA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $550.90 on Friday. Murphy USA has a 1 year low of $350.55 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The company has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.73 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $511.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $498.14.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 141.4% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 942.9% in the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 146 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 82.1% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 25.6% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy USA

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.