Amalgamated Bank Trims Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Amalgamated Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,055 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $5,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,011 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $45,543,000 after buying an additional 12,336 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 10.9% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,621 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,169,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 65.0% in the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 1,556 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $730,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 82.1% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $496.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $510.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $460.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $338.80 and a 1 year high of $552.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 7.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at $203,955,423.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total transaction of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MUSA shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James boosted their price target on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $464.57.

Murphy USA 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.