King Luther Capital Management Corp Has $7.42 Million Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,801 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned 0.08% of Murphy USA worth $7,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 777.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 1st quarter worth $69,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Murphy USA by 82.1% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was 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 directly owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.8 %

MUSA opened at $496.88 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $338.80 and a 12 month high of $552.30. The company has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.85 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The company has a 50 day moving average of $510.17 and a 200 day moving average of $460.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.43 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. 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.