Vise Technologies Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 1,366 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $736,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MUSA. Northcape Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter worth $296,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $690,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at $263,000. Foster & Motley Inc. bought a new position in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth about $371,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth approximately $4,238,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $567.65 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.28. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $349.83 and a 52 week high of $636.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $576.44 and its 200-day moving average is $519.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 96.01% and a net margin of 2.87%.The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.36 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 33.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $619.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $655.00 to $633.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.89.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total transaction of $552,436.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,774.12. This trade represents a 68.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total transaction of $1,641,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 5,016 shares of company stock worth $2,750,098 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 9.02% 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.