Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Position Reduced by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC cut its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 10.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 480 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. GW&K Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 116.7% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at about $47,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $367.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,835,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 389,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,830,015.72. This represents a 1.30% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total value of $717,982.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at $45,337,979.58. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Up 2.9%

NYSE:MUSA opened at $377.78 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $383.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $424.14. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $345.23 and a 52 week high of $561.08. The company has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.54. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.63% and a net margin of 2.52%.The firm had revenue of $5.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th were issued a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MUSA. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $440.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $483.17.

About Murphy USA

Murphy USA Inc engages in marketing of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The company operates retail stores under the Murphy USA, Murphy Express, and QuickChek brands, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.