Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) COO Malynda K. West Sells 1,859 Shares

Key Points

• COO Malynda K. West of Murphy USA Inc. sold 1,859 shares at an average price of $386.22, totaling approximately $717,982.98, which represented a 1.56% decrease in her position.
• Despite beating earnings expectations with $7.36 earnings per share for the last quarter, the company's revenue of $5.01 billion fell short of analysts' forecasts.
• Institutional investors hold a significant share of 80.81% in Murphy USA, with several hedge funds recently increasing their stakes in the company.

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total value of $717,982.98. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at $45,337,979.58. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MUSA traded down $1.34 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $392.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 26,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,558. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $406.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $447.37. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $561.08.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in Murphy USA by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 489 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in Murphy USA by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 8,938 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,485,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Vista Finance LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 646 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 29 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MUSA shares. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Murphy USA from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $350.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Murphy USA from $520.00 to $440.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Murphy USA from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $476.29.

About Murphy USA

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.