2,810 Shares in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Bought by Dakota Wealth Management

Dakota Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,810 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,134,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Murphy USA by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 132,705 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $51,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,468 shares in the last quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 13.7% during the second quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 74,908 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,473,000 after buying an additional 9,051 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 20.2% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 138,998 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $53,967,000 after buying an additional 23,349 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 60.1% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 13,667 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,405,000 after buying an additional 5,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 200.8% during the third quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 6,714 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,607,000 after buying an additional 4,482 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Stephens dropped their price target on Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday, December 29th. KeyCorp set a $500.00 price objective on Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $447.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.53, for a total value of $343,894.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,155 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.19, for a total value of $456,444.45. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,778.17. This trade represents a 42.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,970 shares of company stock worth $6,212,365. 10.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:MUSA opened at $505.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $424.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $402.71. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $523.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.40.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $0.86. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 75.75%. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 10.38%.

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.