King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 457 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 34,420 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 457 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $14,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 5.4% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 442,130 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $207,717,000 after purchasing an additional 22,733 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 94.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 371,667 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $174,613,000 after purchasing an additional 180,055 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 268,373 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $126,065,000 after buying an additional 46,677 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 61.5% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 252,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $118,662,000 after buying an additional 96,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 902.2% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 153,202 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $71,976,000 after buying an additional 137,915 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $474.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total transaction of $717,982.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,337,979.58. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 10.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $362.92 on Monday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $345.23 and a 12-month high of $561.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $381.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $407.54. 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 company has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31 and a beta of 0.39.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $5.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.20 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

About Murphy USA

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.