Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Holdings Raised by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 24.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,852 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,506 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $11,288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 106.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. WPG Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 148.5% in the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 82 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other news, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total transaction of $94,879.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,838. This trade represents a 24.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total transaction of $1,641,750.00. Following the sale, the director owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392. 9.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Capital One Financial started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $619.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $596.44.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $608.99 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $345.23 and a 12-month high of $636.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $571.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $505.47.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.85%.

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.