Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 35.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,365 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 13,852 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $10,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 82.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 106.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 317.6% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total transaction of $24,773,840.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 342,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,286,875.52. This represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total value of $94,879.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 476 shares in the company, valued at $285,838. This represents a 24.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 43,362 shares of company stock worth $25,779,517 over the last quarter. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy USA Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $516.33 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $524.90 and a 200-day moving average of $449.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $345.23 and a 12-month high of $609.82. The firm has a market cap of $9.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.85, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The business had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.63 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 31.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUSA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. KeyCorp boosted 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. Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Murphy USA from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.71.

Murphy USA 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.