Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,763 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $950,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 423.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Murphy USA in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 82.5% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUSA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Capital One Financial began coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Murphy USA from $655.00 to $633.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.89.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total transaction of $1,641,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total value of $552,436.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,774.12. This trade represents a 68.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Murphy USA Trading Down 4.2%

NYSE MUSA opened at $509.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $573.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $523.42. The company has a market capitalization of $9.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.28. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $349.83 and a 12 month high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 96.01%. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.36 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 33.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 24th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 7.92%.

About Murphy USA

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.