Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Bought by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 14.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 855 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 308,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $105,389,000 after purchasing an additional 72,537 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 35,556.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 269,916 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,241,000 after acquiring an additional 269,159 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $81,560,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 194,560 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $69,372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 164,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $56,180,000 after acquiring an additional 2,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MUSA. StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $408.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 10,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.32, for a total value of $4,575,805.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,871,580.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Murphy USA news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 10,392 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.32, for a total value of $4,575,805.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 199,563 shares in the company, valued at $87,871,580.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $82,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,451 shares of company stock valued at $5,032,498. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.3 %

MUSA stock opened at $479.58 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $436.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $404.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.87. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $282.49 and a fifty-two week high of $488.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13 and a beta of 0.76.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty retailer reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.97). The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.45% and a net margin of 2.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.80 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.39%.

Murphy USA Company 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.