Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Director Diane Landen Sells 3,000 Shares of Stock

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Director Diane Landen sold 3,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $29,464,487.25. The trade was a 5.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $556.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $532.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $456.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a PE ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.30. 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 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. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.63 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 8.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MUSA. Bank of America raised Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. KeyCorp raised their target price on Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.71.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,874,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Murphy USA by 3.5% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 132,705 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $51,524,000 after buying an additional 4,468 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 14.9% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $8,775,000 after buying an additional 2,939 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Murphy USA by 6.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 63,638 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $24,708,000 after buying an additional 3,614 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,134,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

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.