Flavin Financial Services Inc. Buys New Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Flavin Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,007 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,082,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at $915,734,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 149.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,753,000 after purchasing an additional 304,354 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 1.6% during 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 period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 318,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $128,511,000 after acquiring an additional 99,798 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Murphy USA by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 300,758 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $121,365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,930 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total value of $552,436.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 449 shares in the company, valued at $256,774.12. This represents a 68.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 5,016 shares of company stock worth $2,750,098 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of MUSA opened at $567.65 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $576.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $519.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The stock has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.28. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $349.83 and a 52-week high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 96.01%. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.36 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 33.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 7.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MUSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Murphy USA from $655.00 to $633.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Bank of America increased their target price on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.89.

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.