Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 11,930 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 20.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,139 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 11,930 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $22,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $863,116,000 after purchasing an additional 99,253 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $291,068,000 after buying an additional 8,507 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 49,501.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,664,000 after buying an additional 388,090 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 4.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 388,271 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,407,000 after buying an additional 16,006 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 204,363 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $95,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $550.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73 and a beta of 0.78. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $350.55 and a 52-week high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $511.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $498.14.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.69 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on MUSA shares. StockNews.com upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.33.

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.