Lido Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 3,867 Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Lido Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,867 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,910,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,454 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the first quarter valued at $11,879,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 39.1% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 86,420 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $42,689,000 after buying an additional 24,296 shares during the period. Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at about $317,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 3.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 149,064 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,633,000 after acquiring an additional 4,836 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $585.11.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $613.40 on Monday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $636.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $566.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $499.57.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.63 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.64 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.85%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total transaction of $297,011.33. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,245. The trade was a 50.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total transaction of $24,773,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 342,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,286,875.52. This represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392. 9.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Murphy USA

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.