Islay Capital Management LLC Has $965,000 Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Islay Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,707 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the quarter. Islay Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 15.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,080,410 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $369,208,000 after purchasing an additional 140,879 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 30.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 308,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $105,389,000 after acquiring an additional 72,537 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 35,556.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 269,916 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,241,000 after acquiring an additional 269,159 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 192,574 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $65,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 164,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $56,180,000 after acquiring an additional 2,996 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE MUSA traded down $9.07 on Tuesday, reaching $414.47. The company had a trading volume of 96,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 204,344. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.95. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $268.69 and a 1-year high of $430.83. The company’s fifty day moving average is $415.09 and its 200-day moving average is $384.02.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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 reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $375.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $408.60.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 1,235 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $407.96, for a total transaction of $503,830.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,797,249.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 1,235 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $407.96, for a total transaction of $503,830.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,797,249.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total transaction of $275,925.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,002,722.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,440 shares of company stock worth $4,244,582 in the last three months. 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.