Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Director Rosemary Turner Sells 205 Shares

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Director Rosemary Turner sold 205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $82,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Murphy USA Stock Up 2.6 %

MUSA stock traded up $10.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $412.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 346,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 219,626. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $414.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $385.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.89 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $268.69 and a 52-week high of $430.83.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty retailer reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.97). The business 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 period last year, the firm earned $4.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.29 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 7.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 96,230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $34,312,000 after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter valued at $138,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at $1,925,000. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 40.6% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 31,087 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,623,000 after buying an additional 8,972 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 164,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $56,180,000 after purchasing an additional 2,996 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $408.60.

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.