Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 270,122 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 7,760 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $109,000,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Murphy USA by 106.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 317.6% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 423.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on MUSA shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.71.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $547.31 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The stock has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $531.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $455.67. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $345.23 and a 12-month high of $609.82.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total value of $94,879.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $285,838. This represents a 24.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This trade 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 43,225 shares of company stock valued at $25,721,642 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

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.