Rosemary Turner Sells 966 Shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Stock

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total value of $552,436.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,774.12. The trade was a 68.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE MUSA traded up $0.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $568.51. 221,431 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 332,798. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $349.83 and a 12-month high of $636.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $578.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $517.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.28.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.36 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 33.84 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth $6,874,000. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 146,119 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $71,986,000 after buying an additional 27,513 shares during the period. Evergreen Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth about $1,333,000. Millennium Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth about $1,029,000. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 45.4% during the 4th quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 9,765 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after acquiring an additional 3,051 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research downgraded Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Murphy USA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.89.

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.