Janus Henderson Group PLC Increases Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,836 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 0.06% of Murphy USA worth $5,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 100 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth $64,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Melius Research upgraded Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James downgraded Murphy USA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Melius began coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $526.29.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $457.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $424.03 and a 1-year high of $561.08. The company has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $474.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $493.16.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.87 by ($1.24). Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 61.60%. The business had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.44%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 2,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,062,476.19. This trade represents a 25.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s 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 $2,783,200.66. The trade was a 25.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Murphy USA 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.