Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Acquired by EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 348 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $863,116,000 after purchasing an additional 99,253 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $291,068,000 after purchasing an additional 8,507 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $211,135,000 after purchasing an additional 176,308 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 4.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 388,271 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,407,000 after purchasing an additional 16,006 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 183,041 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $91,841,000 after purchasing an additional 3,641 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total value of $395,391.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043 over the last three months. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Melius Research raised Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Melius began coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $525.67.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.9 %

Murphy USA stock opened at $452.64 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70 and a beta of 0.80. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $382.04 and a fifty-two week high of $561.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $479.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $499.82.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. Analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.49 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.10%.

Murphy USA 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.