Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 1,763 Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,763 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $950,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 106.7% during the 4th 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 shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 82.5% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total value of $552,436.08. Following the sale, the director owned 449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,774.12. The trade was a 68.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $655.00 to $633.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $619.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.89.

Murphy USA Stock Down 4.2%

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $509.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.28. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $349.83 and a 12-month high of $636.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $573.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $523.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $1.32. The company 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $7.36 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 33.84 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 24th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 24th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 7.92%.

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.