First Manhattan CO. LLC. Invests $201,000 in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 100 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth about $67,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MUSA. Stephens reduced their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Melius started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $526.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In related news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total transaction of $395,391.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $439.59 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $475.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $494.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $8.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 0.59. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $422.66 and a 52 week high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.87 by ($1.24). Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. The business had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 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 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.44%.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.