Inspire Investing LLC Has $2.60 Million Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 30.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,432 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at about $603,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter worth about $596,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter worth about $227,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.14.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE MUSA opened at $573.36 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $544.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $466.11. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $345.23 and a one year high of $636.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.85%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total value of $24,773,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 342,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,286,875.52. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total transaction of $1,641,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 53,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392 over the last ninety days. 9.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.