Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Keith Emery Sells 517 Shares

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Keith Emery sold 517 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total transaction of $297,011.33. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,245. This represents a 50.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Murphy USA stock opened at $564.92 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $508.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $437.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $609.82. The company has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.36.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 31.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 8.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MUSA. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.71.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 3.5% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 132,705 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $51,524,000 after buying an additional 4,468 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 20.2% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 138,998 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $53,967,000 after buying an additional 23,349 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 60.1% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 13,667 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,405,000 after buying an additional 5,128 shares during the last quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 200.8% during the third quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 6,714 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,607,000 after buying an additional 4,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 63,638 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $24,708,000 after buying an additional 3,614 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.