Triasima Portfolio Management inc. Sells 972 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Triasima Portfolio Management inc. reduced its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 56.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 755 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 972 shares during the quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc.'s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Roundview Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.8% during the second quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 3,867 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,573,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 8.0% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 758 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 7.5% during the second quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 745 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 103.5% during the second quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 26,441 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $10,756,000 after purchasing an additional 13,450 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total transaction of $717,982.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 117,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,337,979.58. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy bought 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $367.01 per share, with a total value of $1,835,050.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 389,172 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $142,830,015.72. This represents a 1.30% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 10.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MUSA shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $440.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a 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 for the company. in a report on Friday, August 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Friday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $483.17.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $381.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $345.23 and a one year high of $561.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $383.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. Murphy USA's payout ratio is 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.

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