HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 2,026 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 144,741 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,026 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $56,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 2.7% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,282 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.3% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,902 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,249,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Murphy USA by 9.3% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 472 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MUSA. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Bank of America began coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Friday, January 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp set a $500.00 price target on Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $457.50.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA stock opened at $407.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $413.82 and its 200 day moving average is $391.88. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $345.23 and a 52 week high of $523.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total transaction of $1,721,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,890,325. This represents a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.09, for a total transaction of $470,643.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 5,927 shares in the company, valued at $2,288,355.43. This represents a 17.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 50,918 shares of company stock valued at $19,876,993 in the last 90 days. 10.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Murphy USA 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.