Insider Selling: Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Sells $555,912.00 in Stock

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Renee Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This trade represents a 25.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $505.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $9.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $524.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $447.60. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $609.82.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.63 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 31.48 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 8.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MUSA. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Bank of America raised shares of Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $350.00 to $550.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.71.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kenora Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 3.3% in the first quarter. Kenora Financial LLC now owns 654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Enhancing Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Enhancing Capital LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 864 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy USA

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.