Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) CFO Sells $752,849.00 in Stock

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) CFO Donald Smith, Jr. sold 1,460 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $515.65, for a total transaction of $752,849.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,945,702.55. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Murphy USA Stock Up 2.5%

Murphy USA stock opened at $515.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $521.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $516.21. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $352.42 and a 1-year high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The specialty retailer reported $9.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.37 by $1.22. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 92.81%. The company had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 34.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 35.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MUSA. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $612.00 to $621.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Murphy USA from $633.00 to $626.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Six equities 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.33.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $915,734,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 149,064 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $73,633,000 after buying an additional 4,836 shares during the last quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 23.2% in the first quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 146,119 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $71,986,000 after buying an additional 27,513 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at $54,143,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 21,322.2% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 103,041 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $55,526,000 after acquiring an additional 102,560 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA Inc is a U.S. operator of retail fuel and convenience stores. The company sells gasoline and diesel fuel along with tobacco products, packaged beverages, snacks, candy, grocery items, general merchandise and other convenience products. Many locations also offer prepared food and related services.

The company operates stores under the Murphy USA and Murphy Express brands, with a network concentrated primarily in the Southern, Southeastern and Midwestern United States. Murphy USA locations are commonly situated near Walmart stores, while Murphy Express sites generally operate as standalone convenience stores.