Whittier Trust Co. Acquires 5,128 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 60.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,667 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,128 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. owned 0.07% of Murphy USA worth $5,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter valued at approximately $93,967,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its position in Murphy USA by 3,650.7% during the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 180,858 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $73,573,000 after buying an additional 176,036 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 676.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $69,243,000 after buying an additional 148,301 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 491,641 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $200,000,000 after buying an additional 95,259 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1,785.1% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 81,211 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,037,000 after buying an additional 76,903 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MUSA shares. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $467.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Friday, January 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on Murphy USA from $425.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $460.33.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $431.89 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $8.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $405.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $393.27. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $523.09.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.60 by $0.65. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.11 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 69.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other news, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total value of $1,721,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at $49,890,325. This trade represents a 3.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 24,733 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total value of $9,431,434.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 131,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,963,381.92. This represents a 15.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 45,034 shares of company stock worth $17,349,722 over the last three months. Insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

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.