Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Acquired by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 46.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,080 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,190 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 1st quarter valued at about $50,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 1st quarter valued at about $52,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 522.9% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 218 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covington Capital Management acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. 83.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $362.00 to $360.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $318.60.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 18,971 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.40, for a total transaction of $5,964,482.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,203,111.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.31, for a total transaction of $211,617.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 18,971 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.40, for a total transaction of $5,964,482.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,203,111.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 70,815 shares of company stock worth $22,153,785 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.47% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $315.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 0.80. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.65 and a 1-year high of $323.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $311.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.05.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The specialty retailer reported $6.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $5.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.61 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 80.20% and a net margin of 2.59%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 21.2 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 25th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.16%.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA Inc engages in marketing of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The company operates retail stores under the Murphy USA, Murphy Express, and QuickChek brands. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas.