Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC Has $33.29 Million Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC lowered its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,908 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,711 shares during the quarter. Murphy USA accounts for approximately 1.4% of Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC owned approximately 0.34% of Murphy USA worth $33,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 777.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 1st quarter valued at $69,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Murphy USA by 82.1% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 25.6% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total transaction of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,955,423.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total transaction of $8,621,117.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,955,423.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James increased their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $464.57.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

MUSA stock opened at $499.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The firm has a market cap of $10.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day moving average of $509.93 and a 200-day moving average of $463.66. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $339.96 and a 12-month high of $552.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 7.55%.

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.