Capital World Investors Increases Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 188,664 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,145 shares during the period. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Murphy USA were worth $73,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MUSA. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 4.8% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 5.6% in the third quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 568 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,282 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,739 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp set a $500.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday, December 29th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $429.00.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $454.38 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $415.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $395.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $345.23 and a 12 month high of $523.09.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $0.86. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 75.75%. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.19, for a total transaction of $456,444.45. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,778.17. This represents a 42.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.84, for a total transaction of $139,669.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 352 shares in the company, valued at $142,503.68. This represents a 49.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 14,970 shares of company stock worth $6,212,365 over the last 90 days. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.