Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Eric Bartko Sells 100 Shares of Stock

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Eric Bartko sold 100 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $523.60, for a total value of $52,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $131,947.20. This represents a 28.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:MUSA traded up $0.94 on Thursday, reaching $521.41. 179,721 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 330,342. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.25. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $349.83 and a 52-week high of $636.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The business has a fifty day moving average of $571.70 and a 200-day moving average of $527.48.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $1.32. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 96.01%. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 34.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MUSA. Weiss Ratings lowered Murphy USA from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $550.00 to $625.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $619.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research cut Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.89.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 121.4% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 4,680 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,566 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth approximately $1,724,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 49,904.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 10,410,968 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,610,158,000 after buying an additional 10,390,148 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,062 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,217,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 802 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.