Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Acquired by Fifth Third Bancorp

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp dramatically increased its Murphy USA stake by 6,474% in the first quarter, ending with 13,148 shares valued at about $6.5 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mixed but constructive: Murphy USA has a Moderate Buy consensus, with several analysts raising targets, including price objectives as high as $710.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and also raised its dividend to $0.64 per share from $0.63.

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 6,474.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,148 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 12,948 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned approximately 0.07% of Murphy USA worth $6,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 82.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 106.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 82.5% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MUSA. Bank of America raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of Murphy USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Capital One Financial began coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $710.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $579.56.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of MUSA opened at $598.21 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $636.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $561.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $490.67. The company has a market capitalization of $11.05 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.63 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.64 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In related news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total value of $297,011.33. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,245. This represents a 50.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total value of $24,773,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 342,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,286,875.52. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392. Insiders own 9.02% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company's primary operations center on two retail formats.

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