Jennifer Bridges Sells 2,268 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Stock

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) SVP Jennifer Bridges sold 2,268 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.41, for a total transaction of $828,749.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,850 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,418.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of MUSA traded up $2.92 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $364.95. The company had a trading volume of 140,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 267,277. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.65 and a 1 year high of $382.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $355.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $319.38.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The specialty retailer reported $7.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.08 by $1.61. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 71.06%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 22.8 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 3rd. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 6.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MUSA. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $252.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $362.00 to $360.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Murphy USA from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,670,297 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $533,953,000 after buying an additional 35,610 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 15.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,080,410 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $369,208,000 after acquiring an additional 140,879 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 2.5% during the second quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 452,115 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $140,657,000 after purchasing an additional 11,108 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 379,886 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $106,194,000 after purchasing an additional 164,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 355,479 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $99,371,000 after purchasing an additional 80,791 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas.