Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Acquired by Leeward Investments LLC MA

Leeward Investments LLC MA lifted its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 25.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,805 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 8,160 shares during the quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $19,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth $6,874,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 14.9% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,775,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939 shares during the period. Millennium Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,029,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth about $1,333,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America raised Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $539.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In related news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total transaction of $1,641,750.00. Following the sale, the director owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total transaction 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 $287,245. The trade was a 50.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392. 9.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $551.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $548.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $470.74. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is currently 8.85%.

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.