King Luther Capital Management Corp Grows Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,801 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 814 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $7,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in Murphy USA by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,073 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $81,560,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 45,830 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $16,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,482 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,884 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,594,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438 shares in 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 16,755 shares of the company’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 approximately $203,955,423.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at $203,955,423.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666 in the last 90 days. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.8 %

MUSA opened at $496.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $510.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $460.80. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $338.80 and a twelve month high of $552.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on 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. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $464.57.

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.