Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $509.40.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

MUSA stock opened at $476.54 on Monday. Murphy USA has a one year low of $350.55 and a one year high of $561.08. The firm has a market cap of $9.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $516.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $506.63.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.69 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 23.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 22.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 8,385 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,529,000. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,207,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Murphy USA by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 35,240 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $17,369,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,573,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

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.