Cwm LLC Cuts Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Cwm LLC lowered its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,891 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 230 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 777.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Murphy USA in the 1st quarter worth approximately $69,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 82.1% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter worth $94,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MUSA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $464.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE MUSA opened at $485.99 on Wednesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $350.55 and a 52 week 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. The company has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.39 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $505.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $469.89.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.55%.

About Murphy USA

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.