Dynasty Wealth Management LLC Takes $483,000 Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $483,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $93,967,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 3,650.7% during the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 180,858 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,573,000 after purchasing an additional 176,036 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Murphy USA by 676.7% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $69,243,000 after buying an additional 148,301 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 491,641 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $200,000,000 after buying an additional 95,259 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in Murphy USA by 1,785.1% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 81,211 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,037,000 after buying an additional 76,903 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 16,250 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,564,058.76. This trade represents a 21.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total value of $1,721,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,890,325. This trade represents a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $17,349,722 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Friday, January 9th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $474.00.

Murphy USA Stock Down 2.2%

Murphy USA stock opened at $431.67 on Wednesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $523.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $401.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $393.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.81.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

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.