Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd

Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd cut its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 92.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 12,700 shares during the period. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 100 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at about $67,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MUSA. Melius Research raised Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James lowered Murphy USA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Stephens decreased their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $526.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,783,200.66. The trade was a 25.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.31, for a total value of $360,491.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,062,476.19. This represents a 25.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $439.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $474.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $493.37. The company has a market capitalization of $8.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17 and a beta of 0.59. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $424.03 and a twelve month high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.87 by ($1.24). The business had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.79 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 8.44%.

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.