Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Purchased by AdvisorShares Investments LLC

AdvisorShares Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 14.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,157 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Vista Finance LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 646 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,101,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,821 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $741,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Applied Capital LLC FL boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 557 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Trading Down 7.8%

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $361.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $382.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $415.01. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.60 by $0.65. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.11 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 65.38% and a net margin of 2.43%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.20 EPS. Analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total value of $717,982.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,337,979.58. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $367.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,835,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 389,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,830,015.72. This represents a 1.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $474.00.

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.