GSA Capital Partners LLP Invests $752,000 in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,936 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $752,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 24.0% during the second quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 491,641 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $200,000,000 after buying an additional 95,259 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 0.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 446,654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $181,732,000 after acquiring an additional 3,447 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $93,967,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 3,650.7% during the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 180,858 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,573,000 after acquiring an additional 176,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 676.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $69,243,000 after purchasing an additional 148,301 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of MUSA opened at $389.93 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $413.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $392.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $345.23 and a 12-month high of $523.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $0.86. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 75.75% and a net margin of 2.43%.The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.38%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.84, for a total value of $139,669.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,503.68. This trade represents a 49.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total transaction of $1,721,675.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,890,325. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 9,935 shares of company stock worth $4,248,945 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MUSA. Stephens cut their price objective on Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $457.50.

About Murphy USA

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.