Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Price Target Raised to $560.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $540.00 to $560.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

MUSA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Raymond James lifted their target price on Murphy USA from $425.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $469.50.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA stock traded down $3.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $509.32. The stock had a trading volume of 209,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 214,056. Murphy USA has a 1-year low of $297.36 and a 1-year high of $521.54. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $473.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $430.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.02 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 24.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 10,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.32, for a total value of $4,575,805.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 199,563 shares in the company, valued at $87,871,580.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 10,392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.32, for a total transaction of $4,575,805.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,563 shares in the company, valued at $87,871,580.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 854 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $438.75, for a total value of $374,692.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,818,436.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 191.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Murphy USA by 777.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 394.7% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 94 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 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.