Osaic Holdings Inc. Buys 1,264 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 72.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,005 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,264 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 1,925.0% during the 2nd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 81 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. WD Rutherford LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $474.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 16,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total transaction of $6,196,612.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 59,172 shares in the company, valued at $22,564,058.76. The trade was a 21.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.5%

MUSA stock opened at $403.44 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $523.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $385.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $391.34.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.60 by $0.65. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.11 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 69.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.20 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.63%.

Murphy USA Company 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.