Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,838 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 35,556.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 269,916 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,241,000 after buying an additional 269,159 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $81,560,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 194,560 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $69,372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 128,194 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $45,709,000 after purchasing an additional 17,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 117,096 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $41,752,000 after buying an additional 2,199 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $82,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Murphy USA news, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 854 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $438.75, for a total value of $374,692.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,818,436.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $82,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,451 shares of company stock worth $5,032,498 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $408.60.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $453.51 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $446.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $411.70. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $282.49 and a fifty-two week high of $489.89. The company has a market cap of $9.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty retailer reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.97). The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 64.45%. The company’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.39%.

About Murphy USA

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.