AGF Management Ltd. Trims Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

AGF Management Ltd. cut its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 6.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,095 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 345 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 1,091.4% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 14,464 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,063,000 after buying an additional 13,250 shares in the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 1st quarter worth about $1,258,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 16,673 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,911 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,949,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE MUSA opened at $533.25 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $503.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $456.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38 and a beta of 0.77. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $331.46 and a one year high of $542.00.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.02 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $469.50.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA Inc engages in marketing of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The company operates retail stores under the Murphy USA, Murphy Express, and QuickChek brands, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.