V Square Quantitative Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

V Square Quantitative Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 27.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 27 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in Murphy USA by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,130 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Murphy USA by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,101,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,821 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $741,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Applied Capital LLC FL raised its stake in Murphy USA by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 557 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $367.01 per share, with a total value of $1,835,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 389,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,830,015.72. The trade was a 1.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total transaction of $717,982.98. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,337,979.58. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MUSA. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $440.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $483.17.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE MUSA opened at $393.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.42. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $345.23 and a one year high of $561.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $385.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $427.02.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $5.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.17 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 64.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.92 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th were issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Murphy USA Company 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.