Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Buys 2,820 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 61.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,820 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 34,898 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $14,197,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI increased its stake in Murphy USA by 154.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 6,305 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,565,000 after purchasing an additional 3,828 shares during the period. Southernsun Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 13.7% during the second quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 74,908 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,473,000 after purchasing an additional 9,051 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter worth approximately $93,967,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 144.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,627 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,185,000 after buying an additional 3,321 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MUSA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $467.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $375.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $425.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 16,250 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total transaction of $6,196,612.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 59,172 shares in the company, valued at $22,564,058.76. This trade represents a 21.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total transaction of $1,721,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,890,325. This represents a 3.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $17,349,722. Insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $431.89 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $8.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The company’s 50 day moving average is $405.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $393.27. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $345.23 and a 12 month high of $523.09.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.60 by $0.65. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.11 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 69.87% and a net margin of 2.43%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.63%.

Murphy USA Company 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.