HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 20,657 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 128,983 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 20,657 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $69,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $876,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Kenora Financial LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 3.3% in the first quarter. Kenora Financial LLC now owns 654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 3.0% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 864 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 3.2% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 802 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.9% during the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE MUSA opened at $511.16 on Tuesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $349.83 and a one year high of $636.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $9.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $570.90 and its 200-day moving average is $529.90.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $6.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.36 EPS. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 34.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MUSA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Murphy USA from $655.00 to $633.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.89.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total value of $552,436.08. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. 9.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.