Havemeyer Place LP Purchases New Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Havemeyer Place LP bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 942 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $380,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 82.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter worth $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 317.6% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% during the second 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. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total value of $297,011.33. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,245. This represents a 50.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total value of $24,773,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 342,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,286,875.52. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MUSA. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.71.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE:MUSA opened at $556.64 on Wednesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $609.82. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $532.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $456.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.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 firm posted $2.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid 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 0.5%. Murphy USA’s 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.