London Co. of Virginia Sells 5,580 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

London Co. of Virginia trimmed its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 199,234 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 5,580 shares during the quarter. London Co. of Virginia’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $77,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 22.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 457 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $177,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,892,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter worth $210,000. JCP Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter worth $10,827,000. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 611 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 2,844 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.61, for a total transaction of $1,105,206.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,198,084.63. The trade was a 47.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $382.53, for a total value of $343,894.47. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 14,970 shares of company stock worth $6,212,365 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.7%

MUSA stock opened at $459.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.40. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $345.23 and a 52 week 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $417.44 and a 200 day moving average of $396.63.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.88 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 75.75%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.96 EPS. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. KeyCorp set a $500.00 target price on Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Friday, January 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $429.00.

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.