Whittier Trust Co. Raises Stake in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 12.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 15,843 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,811 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. owned approximately 0.09% of Murphy USA worth $8,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Murphy USA by 149.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,753,000 after acquiring an additional 304,354 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 506,214 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,267,000 after acquiring an additional 7,973 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 318,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $128,511,000 after purchasing an additional 99,798 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 300,758 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $121,365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 188,664 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

MUSA stock traded up $14.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $577.22. 34,925 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 343,760. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $554.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $480.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $345.23 and a 52 week high of $636.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.3 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were 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 was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 8.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total value of $297,011.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 500 shares in the company, valued at $287,245. This trade represents a 50.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total value of $24,773,840.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 342,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,286,875.52. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392 in the last three months. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on MUSA shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Capital One Financial began coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday. Bank of America raised Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $571.22.

Murphy USA Profile

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.