Inspire Investing LLC Buys 1,488 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 30.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,432 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,488 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 318.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 424,818 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $164,940,000 after acquiring an additional 323,331 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 149.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,753,000 after purchasing an additional 304,354 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 676.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $69,243,000 after purchasing an additional 148,301 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth $50,726,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1,723.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 132,450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $53,446,000 after purchasing an additional 125,185 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $573.36 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $544.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $466.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.30. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week 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.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total value of $24,773,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 342,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,286,875.52. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total value of $297,011.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,245. This represents a 50.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392. Company insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MUSA shares. Bank of America raised shares of Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.14.

Murphy USA 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.