King Luther Capital Management Corp Lowers Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

King Luther Capital Management Corp lowered its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 46.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,417 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 13,599 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $6,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 82.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 317.6% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $511.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.36. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $609.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $523.29 and a 200 day moving average of $447.19. 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 issued its 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 firm had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 31.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $550.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total transaction of $94,879.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $285,838. This represents a 24.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This represents a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 43,362 shares of company stock worth $25,779,517 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

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.