Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Invests $10.59 Million in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 26,025 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $10,587,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth approximately $93,967,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth $161,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth $12,829,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,567 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,265,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at $3,243,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on MUSA shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $474.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 16,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total value of $6,196,612.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,564,058.76. This trade represents a 21.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:MUSA opened at $385.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 0.39. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $345.23 and a one year high of $558.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $377.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $396.65.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.60 by $0.65. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 69.87% and a net margin of 2.43%.The company had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.20 EPS. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 10.63%.

Murphy USA Profile

Murphy USA Inc engages in marketing of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The company operates retail stores under the Murphy USA, Murphy Express, and QuickChek brands, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.