Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 43,595 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 19,440 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.21% of Murphy USA worth $21,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 141.4% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA in the 1st quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 942.9% during the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 146 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $527.97 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $496.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $480.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $350.55 and a 12-month high of $552.30. The company has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78 and a beta of 0.75.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.69 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. StockNews.com cut Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $495.33.

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.