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

Key Points

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

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 53,469.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 553,906 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $260,231,000 after acquiring an additional 552,872 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 94.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 371,667 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $174,613,000 after purchasing an additional 180,055 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 21.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 268,373 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $126,065,000 after purchasing an additional 46,677 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 61.5% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 252,575 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $118,662,000 after purchasing an additional 96,200 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 212,247 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $106,495,000 after buying an additional 41,295 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stephens decreased their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $476.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David C. Haley acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $435.58 per share, with a total value of $435,580.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $435,580. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 117,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,337,979.58. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 10.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $390.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $345.23 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $406.49 and a 200-day moving average of $446.57.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $5.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.17 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.63% and a net margin of 2.52%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.92 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

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.

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