Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Downgraded by Raymond James to “Market Perform”

Raymond James cut shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Melius Research upgraded Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $526.29.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $445.45 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 0.59. Murphy USA has a 12 month low of $420.92 and a 12 month high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $476.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $494.07.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.87 by ($1.24). Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 61.60%. The business had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 8.26%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

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

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 53,469.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 553,906 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $260,231,000 after buying an additional 552,872 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,741,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $211,135,000 after purchasing an additional 176,308 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,777,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Murphy USA by 61.5% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 252,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $118,662,000 after purchasing an additional 96,200 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.