Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Purchased by RIHO Partners LLC

Key Points

• RIHO Partners increased its Murphy USA stake by 5.6% in the first quarter to 54,746 shares valued at approximately $27.0 million, making MUSA its largest holding. Institutional investors collectively own 80.81% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with six Buy ratings and five Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $585.11 price target. Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy with a $625 target, while other firms made mixed rating changes.
• Murphy USA reported quarterly EPS of $7.28, significantly above the $5.37 consensus estimate, with revenue up 6.5% year over year to $4.82 billion. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.64, while insiders sold $27.4 million of shares over the past 90 days.

RIHO Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,746 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 2,919 shares during the period. Murphy USA accounts for 17.0% of RIHO Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. RIHO Partners LLC owned about 0.30% of Murphy USA worth $27,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 10.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $603,000. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter worth about $596,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth approximately $227,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total transaction of $1,641,750.00. Following the sale, the director owned 53,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,464,487.25. The trade was a 5.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,632,263.52. The trade was a 25.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $585.11.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $600.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $568.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $502.09. The company has a market cap of $11.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.30. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $636.04.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA's payout ratio is 8.85%.

Murphy USA 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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