Insider Selling: Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Sells $57,874.28 in Stock

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Scott Woodward sold 137 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $422.44, for a total transaction of $57,874.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $445.08 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $414.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $394.79. The firm has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.80. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $345.23 and a one year high of $523.09.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $0.86. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 75.75% and a net margin of 2.43%.The business had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 10.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Enhancing Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Enhancing Capital LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 82.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, January 9th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $429.00.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.