Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Renee Bacon Sells 1,219 Shares

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Renee Bacon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.09, for a total value of $470,643.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 5,927 shares in the company, valued at $2,288,355.43. The trade was a 17.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Murphy USA stock traded up $22.94 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $407.77. 540,455 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 347,425. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $413.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $391.91. The company has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $523.09.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 75.75%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.96 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America started coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Friday, January 9th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $457.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 3.5% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 132,705 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $51,524,000 after buying an additional 4,468 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 20.2% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 138,998 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $53,967,000 after acquiring an additional 23,349 shares in the last quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 74,908 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,473,000 after acquiring an additional 9,051 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 60.1% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 13,667 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,405,000 after acquiring an additional 5,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Murphy USA by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 34,898 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $14,197,000 after acquiring an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.