Key Points
- Murphy USA SVP Renee Bacon sold 1,050 shares on May 27 at an average price of $529.44, totaling about $555,912. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
- The company beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $7.28 versus $5.37 expected and revenue of $4.82 billion versus $4.70 billion expected. Revenue rose 6.5% year over year.
- Murphy USA also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.64 per share from $0.63, bringing the annualized payout to $2.56 and the dividend yield to about 0.5%.
Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) SVP Renee Bacon sold 1,050 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This trade represents a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Murphy USA Price Performance
Murphy USA stock opened at $515.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $522.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $446.14. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $345.23 and a 12-month high of $609.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24.
Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 31.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Murphy USA Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.85%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 149.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $204,753,000 after buying an additional 304,354 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 506,214 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $204,267,000 after buying an additional 7,973 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 318.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 424,818 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $164,940,000 after buying an additional 323,331 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 45.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 318,473 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $128,511,000 after buying an additional 99,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 300,758 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $121,365,000 after buying an additional 1,930 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $539.00 price target for the company. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.71.
View Our Latest Report on MUSA
About Murphy USA
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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