Weiss Asset Management LP Buys Shares of 2,072 Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,072 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,024,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MUSA. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 106.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 423.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. WPG Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 148.5% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 82 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA opened at $609.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.30. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $567.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $500.86. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $345.23 and a 1 year high of $636.04.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Capital One Financial started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday, June 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $585.11.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total value of $24,773,840.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 342,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,286,875.52. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. The trade was a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392 over the last three months. Company insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

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.