Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 1,984 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Key Points

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Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 12.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,951 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of Murphy USA worth $8,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA during the first quarter worth $241,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA during the first quarter worth $40,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Murphy USA during the first quarter worth $3,683,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 21.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in Murphy USA by 81.9% during the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,812 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total value of $717,982.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at $45,337,979.58. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy bought 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $367.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,835,050.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 389,172 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $142,830,015.72. The trade was a 1.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 10.12% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA stock traded down $6.7270 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $377.8730. The company had a trading volume of 461,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,671. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $404.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $443.20. The company has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 0.42.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.54. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.63% and a net margin of 2.52%.The firm had revenue of $5.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.92 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 25th. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Murphy USA from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Murphy USA from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $476.29.

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.