Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 2,877 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 85.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,247 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,877 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vista Finance LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 646 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 4.8% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 2.7% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,282 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,902 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,249,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MUSA. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $467.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $425.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, January 9th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $460.33.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $419.37 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $410.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $393.67. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $345.23 and a 52 week high of $523.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $1,721,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at $49,890,325. This represents a 3.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 16,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total value of $6,196,612.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,564,058.76. This represents a 21.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $17,349,722. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA 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.