13,214 Shares in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Bought by Deutsche Bank AG

Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 13,214 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $7,121,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 423.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 82.5% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SHP Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA opened at $567.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.28. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $349.83 and a fifty-two week high of $636.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $576.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $520.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.03 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 96.01% and a net margin of 2.87%.Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 33.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 24th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.80%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total transaction of $1,641,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at $29,464,487.25. The trade was a 5.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total value of $555,912.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. The trade was a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 5,016 shares of company stock worth $2,750,098 in the last 90 days. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MUSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Murphy USA from $655.00 to $633.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Capital One Financial started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Murphy USA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.89.

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.