Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Eric Bartko Sells 345 Shares

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Eric Bartko sold 345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.84, for a total transaction of $139,669.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,503.68. The trade was a 49.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Murphy USA Trading Up 6.0%

NYSE:MUSA traded up $22.94 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $407.77. 540,455 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 347,425. The firm has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $413.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $391.91. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $523.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.88 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 75.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.96 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be 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 is Monday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 10.38%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 318.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 424,818 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $164,940,000 after acquiring an additional 323,331 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth approximately $93,967,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 3,650.7% during the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 180,858 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $73,573,000 after purchasing an additional 176,036 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 676.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $69,243,000 after purchasing an additional 148,301 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1,723.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 132,450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $53,446,000 after purchasing an additional 125,185 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Friday, January 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. KeyCorp set a $500.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, December 29th. 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 report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $457.50.

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.