Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Acquired by Davidson Capital Management Inc.

Davidson Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 20.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,216 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares during the quarter. Murphy USA comprises about 1.0% of Davidson Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Davidson Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $3,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,073 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at $81,560,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 45,830 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $16,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,482 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,884 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,594,000 after acquiring an additional 1,438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MUSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $464.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at $196,971,533.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666 over the last 90 days. 9.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $493.00 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $509.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $460.27. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $338.36 and a 1-year high of $552.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.02 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.43 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.55%.

About Murphy USA

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.