Raymond James Boosts Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Price Target to $545.00

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) had its price target boosted by Raymond James from $530.00 to $545.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

MUSA has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens reissued an overweight rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $469.50.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA traded down $3.82 on Friday, hitting $509.32. The company had a trading volume of 209,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 214,056. The company has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day moving average of $473.54 and a 200 day moving average of $430.22. Murphy USA has a 52-week low of $297.36 and a 52-week high of $521.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA will post 24.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 33.1% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 6,261 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 35,556.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 269,916 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,241,000 after buying an additional 269,159 shares during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 44.6% during the 4th quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 960 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 1,146.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 64,193 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $22,889,000 after purchasing an additional 59,044 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.