LSV Asset Management Purchases New Shares in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 29,920 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $12,073,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MUSA. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 82.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the third quarter worth $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 317.6% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 423.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $544.32 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.36. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $519.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $443.86. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $345.23 and a 1 year high of $609.82.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.63 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 31.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total value of $297,011.33. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,245. The trade was a 50.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total value of $94,879.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $285,838. The trade was a 24.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 43,211 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,499. Insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Murphy USA from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Stephens decreased their target price on 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, three have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.71.

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.