VELA Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 2,232 Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Key Points

• VELA Investment Management LLC has acquired 2,232 shares of Murphy USA Inc. ($MUSA), amounting to approximately $908,000, indicating institutional interest in the specialty retailer.
• Analyst ratings for Murphy USA have varied, with Jefferies lowering it to a "hold" rating, while KeyCorp maintains an "overweight" rating with a target of $480.00.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.50 to $0.53 per share, highlighting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

VELA Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,232 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $908,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 4.9% during the first quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 489 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,130 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,473 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,101,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,821 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $741,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Applied Capital LLC FL boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 557 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MUSA. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $350.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $405.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $477.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other news, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 1.30% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $378.94 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $561.08. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.69 and a beta of 0.42. The company's 50 day moving average price is $384.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $422.06.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.92 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Murphy USA's payout ratio is 8.78%.

Murphy USA Company 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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