Insider Selling: Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Sells 1,050 Shares of Stock

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Renee Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at $1,632,263.52. This represents a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Murphy USA Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of Murphy USA stock traded down $15.94 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $515.22. 347,922 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 347,844. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $609.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $521.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $445.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 31.48 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.64 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 8.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUSA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.71.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 40.0% in the first quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Bull Harbor Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Amundi purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at approximately $438,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 20.5% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 20,820 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,545 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 2.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 12,797 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,322,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Company 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.