Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Bought by Bayforest Capital Ltd

Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 33.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 995 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 35,700.0% in the second quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 6,802 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,767,000 after buying an additional 6,783 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 2.5% in the second quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,848 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $19,058,000 after buying an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 5.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,250 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,205 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $902,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy acquired 5,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $367.01 per share, with a total value of $1,835,050.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 389,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,830,015.72. The trade was a 1.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total value of $717,982.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,337,979.58. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $377.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.42. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $345.23 and a 52 week high of $561.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $384.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $422.69.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $5.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.17 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 64.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th were paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MUSA shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $477.33.

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