Rhumbline Advisers Reduces Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,651 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,558 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Murphy USA were worth $19,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 317.6% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 1,925.0% during the 2nd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 81 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 251.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 109 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Down 5.5%

Shares of MUSA opened at $384.92 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $413.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $392.04. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $523.09.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.88 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 75.75% and a net margin of 2.43%.The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.96 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In related news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.09, for a total transaction of $470,643.71. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,288,355.43. This represents a 17.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 24,733 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total value of $9,431,434.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 131,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,963,381.92. This represents a 15.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,918 shares of company stock worth $19,876,993. 10.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Friday, January 9th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. KeyCorp set a $500.00 price objective on Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $457.50.

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.