King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 457 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,420 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 457 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned 0.18% of Murphy USA worth $14,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 116.7% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 1,925.0% in the 2nd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 81 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the first quarter worth approximately $47,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $474.00.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $362.92 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.31 and a beta of 0.39. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $345.23 and a one year high of $561.08. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $381.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $407.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.60 by $0.65. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.11 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 69.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.20 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. 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%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the company’s 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 owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,337,979.58. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 10.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA 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.