Barclays PLC Cuts Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Barclays PLC lowered its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 405,148 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 19,670 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $163,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 82.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 106.7% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in Murphy USA by 317.6% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Murphy USA by 423.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUSA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.14.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $585.48 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $541.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $463.49. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $636.04. The firm has a market cap of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.63 EPS. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.85%.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total transaction of $94,879.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $285,838. The trade was a 24.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total value of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This trade represents a 25.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

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.