Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Stake Lowered by Leeward Investments LLC MA

Leeward Investments LLC MA cut its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,137 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 11,896 shares during the quarter. Murphy USA makes up 1.2% of Leeward Investments LLC MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Leeward Investments LLC MA owned about 0.33% of Murphy USA worth $25,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new position in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,680,000. Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 2,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $891,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,419 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 117,096 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $41,752,000 after buying an additional 2,199 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $375.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $408.60.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $421.34 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.93 and a 1 year high of $430.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $414.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $383.30. The firm has a market cap of $8.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.79 by $1.21. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 70.92% and a net margin of 2.59%. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.21 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.59%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total transaction of $2,837,410.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,607,700.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total value of $275,925.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,002,722.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total value of $2,837,410.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,607,700.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,440 shares of company stock valued at $4,244,582 in the last three months. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.