Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 6.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,069 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,043 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.28% of Murphy USA worth $26,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 777.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 394.7% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 94 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Asset Management LLC TN grew its stake in Murphy USA by 70.7% during the 4th quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 128 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $469.50.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA traded up $6.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $514.12. 112,139 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 207,017. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.18 and a fifty-two week high of $521.54. The firm has a market cap of $10.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $491.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $444.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The company’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

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.