UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Cuts Stake in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC cut its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,235 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,425 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.20% of Murphy USA worth $20,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,874,000. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 23.2% in the 1st 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 period. Evergreen Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,333,000. Millennium Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,029,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 21,756.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 41,090 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $16,581,000 after buying an additional 40,902 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Capital One Financial started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.60, for a total transaction of $52,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 252 shares in the company, valued at $131,947.20. This trade represents a 28.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total transaction of $552,436.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,774.12. The trade was a 68.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $511.16 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $349.83 and a 1 year high of $636.04. The firm has a market cap of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $571.37 and a 200 day moving average of $528.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 96.01%. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 34.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 24th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

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.