Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Shares in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 5,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,925,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 35,556.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 269,916 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,241,000 after purchasing an additional 269,159 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth $51,918,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 379,886 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $106,194,000 after purchasing an additional 164,519 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the third quarter worth $49,209,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 15.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,080,410 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $369,208,000 after purchasing an additional 140,879 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Murphy USA from $395.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 note on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $404.60.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Murphy USA news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the firm’s 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total value of $2,837,410.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,607,700.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,440 shares of company stock valued at $4,244,582 over the last quarter. 9.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $413.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $411.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $380.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $265.93 and a 12 month high of $430.83.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.79 by $1.21. The firm had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 70.92% and a net margin of 2.59%. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

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.