Sei Investments Co. Grows Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 24.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 22,852 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,506 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.12% of Murphy USA worth $11,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lido Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 1st quarter valued at $1,910,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,454 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 1st quarter worth $11,879,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 39.1% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 86,420 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $42,689,000 after buying an additional 24,296 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the first quarter valued at $317,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $608.99 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. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $636.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $571.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $505.47. The firm has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.64 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MUSA. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $550.00 to $625.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $596.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total value of $297,011.33. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,245. This represents a 50.84% decrease in their position. The sale 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 dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total transaction of $24,773,840.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 342,212 shares in the company, valued at $204,286,875.52. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA 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.