Castleark Management LLC Takes Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Castleark Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 10,770 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $5,320,000. Castleark Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Murphy USA at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth $6,874,000. Evergreen Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at $1,333,000. Millennium Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at $1,029,000. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth about $1,134,000. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 45.4% during the 4th quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 9,765 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 3,051 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on MUSA shares. Bank of America raised their target price on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $585.11.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. The trade was a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total transaction of $94,879.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $285,838. The trade was a 24.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $609.16 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $567.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $500.86. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $636.04. The stock has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.63 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.85%.

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.