Roundview Capital LLC Sells 2,319 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Key Points

• Roundview Capital LLC cut its Murphy USA stake by 64.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,319 shares and leaving it with 1,252 shares valued at about $505,000.
• Murphy USA reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $7.28 versus $5.37 expected and revenue of $4.82 billion versus $4.70 billion expected; revenue rose 6.5% from a year earlier.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.64 per share, while analysts overall hold a Moderate Buy view with a consensus price target of $503.71.

Roundview Capital LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 64.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,252 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 2,319 shares during the quarter. Roundview Capital LLC's holdings in Murphy USA were worth $505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 318.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 424,818 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $164,940,000 after buying an additional 323,331 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of 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. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1,723.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 132,450 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $53,446,000 after purchasing an additional 125,185 shares during the period. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 4,972.5% in the third quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 100,942 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $39,192,000 after purchasing an additional 98,952 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 66.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 203,064 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $78,842,000 after purchasing an additional 80,702 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded Murphy USA from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $350.00 to $550.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Stephens lowered their price target on Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $503.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In related news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total value of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,632,263.52. The trade was a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total transaction of $24,773,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 342,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,286,875.52. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,362 shares of company stock worth $25,779,517. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $515.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.36. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $609.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $522.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $446.14.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. Murphy USA's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 31.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Murphy USA's payout ratio is presently 8.85%.

About Murphy USA

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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