Stephens Has Lowered Expectations for Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Stock Price

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) had its price objective trimmed by Stephens from $530.00 to $475.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Raymond James downgraded shares of Murphy USA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $526.29.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $445.45 on Friday. Murphy USA has a 1 year low of $422.66 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is $476.03 and its 200 day moving average is $494.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by ($1.24). Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. The firm had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This trade represents a 25.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total value of $395,391.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GW&K Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 116.7% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the first quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.