Seven Eight Capital LP Makes New Investment in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 2,539 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,064,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MUSA. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 191.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 394.7% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 94 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Delta Asset Management LLC TN boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 70.7% during the 4th quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 128 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MUSA. StockNews.com raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Murphy USA from $425.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $428.83.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

MUSA traded down $7.24 on Wednesday, hitting $499.39. 247,349 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 212,408. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $463.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $422.98. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $282.49 and a twelve month high of $520.00. The firm has a market cap of $10.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty retailer reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.97). The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.45% and a net margin of 2.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 205 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $82,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $82,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 854 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $438.75, for a total value of $374,692.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,818,436.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,451 shares of company stock valued at $5,032,498. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.