Jupiter Topco LLC Takes $4.06 Million Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,530 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,062,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $876,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Kenora Financial LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 3.3% in the first quarter. Kenora Financial LLC now owns 654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Enhancing Capital LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 3.0% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 864 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% during the third 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. The trade was a 5.28% 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, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total value of $552,436.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 449 shares in the company, valued at $256,774.12. This trade represents a 68.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MUSA. Bank of America upped their price target on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 target price for the company. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.89.

Murphy USA Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $534.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.25. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $349.83 and a 52 week high of $636.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $571.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $526.52. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $1.32. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.03 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 96.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 34.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 7.92%.

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.