Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey Buys 235 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 3.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,891 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,803,000 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 the stock. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 89.8% during the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 33,991 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $15,969,000 after buying an additional 16,080 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 21.7% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 81.9% in the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,812 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $851,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Murphy USA in the first quarter worth about $3,683,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $369.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 0.39. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $561.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $378.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $400.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.60 by $0.65. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.11 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 69.87%. The company’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.20 EPS. Research 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, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MUSA shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $474.00.

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.