Corient Private Wealth LP Takes $1.38 Million Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 2,567 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,383,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 106.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 82.5% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.2%

Murphy USA stock opened at $521.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a PE ratio of 15.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.25. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $349.83 and a 12 month high of $636.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $571.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $528.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total value of $552,436.08. Following the sale, the director owned 449 shares in the company, valued at $256,774.12. This trade represents a 68.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.60, for a total transaction of $52,360.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $131,947.20. This represents a 28.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $619.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $655.00 to $633.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.89.

Murphy USA 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.