Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Sold by Capital World Investors

Capital World Investors decreased its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 57.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,625 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 109,039 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned about 0.43% of Murphy USA worth $32,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth $6,874,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 132,705 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $51,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,468 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $8,775,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 63,638 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $24,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth $1,029,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total transaction of $297,011.33. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 500 shares in the company, valued at $287,245. The trade was a 50.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total value of $555,912.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This represents a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392. 9.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.9%

MUSA stock opened at $556.64 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $345.23 and a 12-month high of $609.82. The stock has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.30. The business’s 50-day moving average is $532.56 and its 200 day moving average is $456.91.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.63 EPS. Murphy USA’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 8.85%.

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.