Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Sold by Northern Trust Corp

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Murphy USA Inc. by 23.9%, owning approximately $75.85 million worth of shares after selling 50,806 shares in Q1.
• Murphy USA recently reported a quarterly EPS of $7.36, exceeding analyst estimates of $6.82, despite an 8.2% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.53 per share, reflecting a positive change from its previous payout of $0.50.

Northern Trust Corp lessened its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 23.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 161,441 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 50,806 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.82% of Murphy USA worth $75,847,000 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. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at $241,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at $40,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at $3,683,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 21.1% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 81.9% in the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,812 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $350.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Murphy USA from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $476.29.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total value of $717,982.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at $45,337,979.58. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy bought 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $367.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,835,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 389,172 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders own 9.04% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA traded up $1.94 on Friday, reaching $376.32. 219,027 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 318,278. 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 market cap of $7.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 0.42. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $401.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $439.69. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $561.08.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 25th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

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.