Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 65,791 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,601,401 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 65,791 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Murphy USA worth $646,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 318.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 424,818 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $164,940,000 after acquiring an additional 323,331 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Murphy USA by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 298,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $116,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 66.0% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 203,064 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $78,842,000 after acquiring an additional 80,702 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 188,664 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,251,000 after acquiring an additional 7,145 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 676.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $69,243,000 after acquiring an additional 148,301 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America raised shares of Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.71.

Murphy USA News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Murphy USA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results materially beat expectations — EPS of $7.28 vs. consensus ~$5.37, fuel contribution and merchandise margins both improved, and the company continued buybacks and a dividend; these operational beats are the primary driver of the rally. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and model raises: Zacks moved MUSA to a stronger recommendation and several shops (KeyCorp, Zacks team) have nudged EPS and longer-term estimates higher, supporting a higher valuation case. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Momentum / market interest: coverage pieces note MUSA at a 52?week high and classify it as a strong momentum/growth stock — that can attract momentum and quant flows. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinions and price targets are mixed — KeyCorp and some shops have $600+ targets while the median across recent reports is below the current price, producing both upside and tail?risk narratives for different investors. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo set an “equal weight” stance and raised its target to $520 — still below the current market level — which could cap further upside from some institutional holders. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling has been heavy in recent months (multiple senior exec sales), which some investors view as a governance or near-term sentiment risk. Read More.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.2%

Murphy USA stock opened at $595.84 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.36. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $597.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $472.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $423.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 29.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 8.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.84, for a total transaction of $139,669.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 352 shares in the company, valued at $142,503.68. This represents a 49.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $382.53, for a total transaction of $343,894.47. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 10,919 shares of company stock valued at $4,490,690 in the last three months. 9.02% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.