VELA Investment Management LLC Sells 2,172 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

VELA Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,760 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,172 shares during the quarter. Murphy USA makes up about 1.1% of VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. VELA Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Murphy USA worth $5,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MUSA. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 10.2% during the first 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 last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter worth about $603,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth about $596,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth about $227,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $511.16 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $571.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $529.01. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $349.83 and a twelve month high of $636.04. The company has a market cap of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 1.46 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 (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.03 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 96.01% and a net margin of 2.87%.The company’s revenue was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.36 EPS. Research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 34.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $131,947.20. This represents a 28.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total transaction of $552,436.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 449 shares in the company, valued at $256,774.12. This represents a 68.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MUSA shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research cut Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. KeyCorp increased their price target on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, 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 report on Friday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.