VELA Investment Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

VELA Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,391 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,172 shares during the quarter. Murphy USA comprises about 1.1% of VELA Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $5,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 49,904.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 10,410,968 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,610,158,000 after buying an additional 10,390,148 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $915,734,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $204,753,000 after acquiring an additional 304,354 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 506,214 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,267,000 after acquiring an additional 7,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 45.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 318,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $128,511,000 after purchasing an additional 99,798 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $511.16 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $571.37 and its 200 day moving average is $529.01. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $349.83 and a fifty-two week high of $636.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.92.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $523.60, for a total value of $52,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $131,947.20. This trade represents a 28.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 449 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MUSA. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $619.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $655.00 to $633.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.89.

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.