Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 174 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 8.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,196 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MUSA. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 777.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the first quarter worth $69,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Murphy USA by 82.1% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth about $94,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $482.73 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26 and a beta of 0.77. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $350.55 and a 12-month high of $552.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $506.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $467.87.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.02 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 7.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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 insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MUSA shares. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.