Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 32.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,124 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 29,225 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $25,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Murphy USA by 82.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 317.6% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 423.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on MUSA shares. Bank of America raised Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Stephens reduced their price objective on Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.71.

Murphy USA Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $563.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $505.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $435.95. The stock has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.36. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $609.82.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.63 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 31.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 2,844 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.61, for a total transaction of $1,105,206.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,198,084.63. This represents a 47.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total value of $24,773,840.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 342,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,286,875.52. This represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 46,693 shares of company stock worth $26,832,139 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.