Wall Street Zen Upgrades Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) to “Strong-Buy”

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on MUSA. Capital One Financial assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research lowered Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upgraded Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $539.50.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $524.87 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $549.88 and its 200-day moving average is $472.97. The stock has a market cap of $9.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.30. Murphy USA has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $636.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA will post 32.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This represents a 25.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at $29,464,487.25. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kenora Financial LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 3.3% in the first quarter. Kenora Financial LLC now owns 654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Enhancing Capital LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Enhancing Capital LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in Murphy USA by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 3.0% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 864 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% in the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy USA

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.