Islay Capital Management LLC Buys 320 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Islay Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,707 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Islay Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Headinvest LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth about $138,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,925,000. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 40.6% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 31,087 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,623,000 after buying an additional 8,972 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 164,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $56,180,000 after buying an additional 2,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter valued at about $4,654,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $408.60.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA traded down $9.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $414.47. 96,633 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 204,344. The firm has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 0.76. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $268.69 and a twelve month high of $430.83. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $415.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $384.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.79 by $1.21. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 70.92% and a net margin of 2.59%. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.21 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 6.59%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total value of $275,925.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,002,722.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Murphy USA news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total value of $275,925.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,002,722.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total value of $2,837,410.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,700.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,440 shares of company stock worth $4,244,582. Company insiders own 9.73% of the company’s stock.

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.