Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,467 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $791,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 106.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 148.5% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 82 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 82.5% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $569.26 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $349.83 and a 1 year high of $636.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $578.36 and its 200 day moving average is $514.04. The stock has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion during 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%. Murphy USA’s revenue was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 33.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 24th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 7.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at $29,464,487.25. The trade was a 5.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total value of $555,912.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This represents a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 9.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $619.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Bank of America upped their target price on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Capital One Financial began coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Monday, June 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Murphy USA from $655.00 to $633.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. 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, Murphy USA presently has an average 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.