Bridges Investment Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,703 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $799,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in Murphy USA by 1,091.4% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 14,464 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,063,000 after acquiring an additional 13,250 shares in the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,258,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 16,673 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,911 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,949,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Murphy USA by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 $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 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.8 %

Murphy USA stock opened at $496.47 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $338.80 and a 1-year high of $552.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $510.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $461.19.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.02 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MUSA shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $464.57.

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.