DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 226 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale decreased its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,664 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 226 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 191.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 153 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. now owns 174 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Covington Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $375.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $395.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $404.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.42, for a total transaction of $627,415.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,098,491.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,525 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.42, for a total transaction of $627,415.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,098,491.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total value of $2,837,410.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,448 shares in the company, valued at $2,607,700.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,440 shares of company stock worth $4,244,582. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $412.24 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $408.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $378.94. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $265.49 and a 12-month high of $430.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The company has a market cap of $8.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 0.76.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.79 by $1.21. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 70.92% and a net margin of 2.59%. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.59%.

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, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.