Insider Selling: Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Director Sells $1,641,750.00 in Stock

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Director Diane Landen sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. The trade was a 5.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.5%

Murphy USA stock opened at $621.25 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $537.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $460.24. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $345.23 and a 52 week high of $636.05. The stock has a market cap of $11.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.30. 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 (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 8.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MUSA. Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.71.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 423.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the second quarter valued at about $603,000. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth about $596,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth about $227,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

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.