Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Bought by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 74.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,620 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,956 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.06% of Murphy USA worth $5,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 100 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James lowered Murphy USA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stephens reduced their target price on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $526.29.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This trade represents a 25.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.31, for a total value of $360,491.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,062,476.19. This trade represents a 25.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MUSA opened at $436.55 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $475.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $493.74. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $422.66 and a twelve month high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.87 by ($1.24). The firm had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.79 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.44%.

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.