Empowered Funds LLC Sells 1,310 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Empowered Funds LLC cut its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,591 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,310 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $7,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% during 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 period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. WPG Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 148.5% in the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 82 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MUSA. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $619.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $596.44.

Murphy USA Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE MUSA opened at $608.99 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $345.23 and a one year high of $636.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $571.98 and its 200-day moving average is $505.47.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The business had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.63 EPS. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 8.85%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the company’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 owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at $29,464,487.25. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total transaction of $24,773,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 342,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,286,875.52. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.