Summit Investment Advisors Inc. Has $1.85 Million Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Summit Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,691 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at $1,207,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth $11,529,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $211,135,000 after acquiring an additional 176,308 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 58.6% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,838 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $922,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 46.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 9,890 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,135 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on MUSA shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $550.00 price target for the company. Melius Research upgraded Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Stephens upgraded Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $539.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total value of $395,391.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $512.37 on Wednesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $382.04 and a twelve month high of $561.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $468.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $492.75. The company has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17 and a beta of 0.73.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 61.60%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 8.10%.

Murphy USA Profile

Murphy USA Inc engages in marketing of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The company operates retail stores under the Murphy USA, Murphy Express, and QuickChek brands, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.