London Co. of Virginia Decreases Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

London Co. of Virginia trimmed its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 199,234 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 5,580 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia owned approximately 1.06% of Murphy USA worth $77,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 491,641 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $200,000,000 after purchasing an additional 95,259 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Murphy USA by 0.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 446,654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $181,732,000 after buying an additional 3,447 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Murphy USA by 318.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 424,818 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $164,940,000 after buying an additional 323,331 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Murphy USA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 298,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $116,029,000 after buying an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth $93,967,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other news, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.84, for a total transaction of $139,669.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,503.68. This trade represents a 49.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were 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 owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,890,325. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,970 shares of company stock worth $6,212,365. Insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp set a $500.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, January 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Stephens reduced their price target on Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $429.00.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Murphy USA stock opened at $459.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $417.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $396.63. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $523.09.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.88 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 75.75% and a net margin of 2.43%.Murphy USA’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.38%.

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.