Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Has $1.86 Million Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 5,480.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,576 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,494 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 14.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.3% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,538 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,663,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.2% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,130 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 4.2% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 70,888 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,305,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the first quarter valued at $40,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $367.01 per share, with a total value of $1,835,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 389,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,830,015.72. This trade represents a 1.30% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total transaction of $717,982.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,337,979.58. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $477.33.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $374.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $383.85 and a 200-day moving average of $419.28. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $5.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.17 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 64.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

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.