Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 25.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,899 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 5,142 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $7,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 10.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $792,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $603,000. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter worth about $596,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth approximately $227,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $619.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America increased their target price on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. 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 report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $596.44.

Murphy USA Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $608.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $636.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $571.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $505.47.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the firm’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 owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total value of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at $1,632,263.52. The trade was a 25.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

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.