Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Sold by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group cut its Murphy USA stake by 74.6% in the second quarter, selling 78,320 shares and retaining 26,690 shares worth approximately $14.4 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 80.81% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: five analysts rate the stock a Buy and six rate it a Hold, resulting in a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $606.89.
• Murphy USA exceeded quarterly expectations with earnings of $11.27 per share and revenue of $6.81 billion, while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.65 per share, equivalent to a 0.5% annual yield.

Baird Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 74.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 26,690 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 78,320 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Murphy USA worth $14,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MUSA. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 49,904.6% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 10,410,968 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $5,610,158,000 after acquiring an additional 10,390,148 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth $915,734,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 149.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $204,753,000 after purchasing an additional 304,354 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Murphy USA by 676.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $69,243,000 after purchasing an additional 148,301 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at $78,372,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Monday, June 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $710.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded Murphy USA from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Murphy USA from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $606.89.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In related news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total transaction of $552,436.08. Following the sale, the director owned 449 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,774.12. The trade was a 68.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.60, for a total transaction of $52,360.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 252 shares in the company, valued at $131,947.20. The trade was a 28.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 9.02% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $523.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The stock's 50 day moving average is $568.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $532.52. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $349.83 and a twelve month high of $636.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.25.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 96.01% and a net margin of 2.87%.The business had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.36 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 34.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 24th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

About Murphy USA

Murphy USA Inc NYSE: MUSA operates a network of retail fuel stations and convenience stores in the United States. Its locations primarily serve motorists and local communities, offering gasoline and diesel fuel along with convenience merchandise.

The company's stores sell products such as tobacco, nicotine products, beverages, snacks, packaged food, and other general merchandise. Many locations also provide prepared food and other convenience services, with product offerings designed to complement the company's fuel business.

Murphy USA was established as an independent publicly traded company in 2013 following its separation from Murphy Oil Corporation.

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