Weiss Asset Management LP Makes New $1.02 Million Investment in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,072 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,024,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 106.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 423.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. WPG Advisers LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 148.5% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 82 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Capital One Financial assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $585.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total transaction of $1,641,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total value of $24,773,840.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 342,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,286,875.52. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392 in the last 90 days. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $609.16 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $567.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $500.86. The stock has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.30. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $345.23 and a 12 month high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.85%.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.