Wellington Management Group LLP Trims Stake in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,187 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 25,967 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $41,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at $558,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at $48,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new position in Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at $1,132,000. RIHO Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter worth about $21,755,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter worth about $2,820,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In related news, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $523.60, for a total value of $52,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $131,947.20. This represents a 28.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total transaction of $552,436.08. Following the sale, the director owned 449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,774.12. The trade was a 68.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 9.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Murphy USA stock opened at $511.16 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $571.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $528.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $349.83 and a 52-week high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 96.01%. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.36 EPS. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 34.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 24th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $619.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Capital One Financial started coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.89.

About Murphy USA

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.