Redwood Investment Management LLC Sells 182 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Redwood Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,854 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,444 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 8,938 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,485,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 967 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 100 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

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

Murphy USA Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $452.12 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $424.03 and a 52-week high of $561.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $474.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $493.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.79.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 8.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James cut Murphy USA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. StockNews.com cut Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Melius assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Melius Research upgraded Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Stephens lowered their target price on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $526.29.

Murphy USA 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, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.