Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC Sells 6,700 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 19.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,638 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 6,700 shares during the period. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $10,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 317.6% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 423.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 251.6% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 109 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in Murphy USA during the third quarter worth $64,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $456.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $8.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $416.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $395.91. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $345.23 and a one year high of $523.09.

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

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MUSA. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday, December 29th. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 report on Friday, February 6th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Friday, January 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp set a $500.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $429.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 137 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $422.44, for a total transaction of $57,874.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 2,844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.61, for a total transaction of $1,105,206.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at $1,198,084.63. This represents a 47.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,970 shares of company stock worth $6,212,365. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.