Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA – Free Report) by 126.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 780 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $200,000 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. Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 39.8% in the 1st quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 2,399 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the 1st quarter worth about $2,481,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,044 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Murphy USA by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,542 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after buying an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorShares Investments LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 1,543 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 85.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts have commented on MUSA shares. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Murphy USA from $362.00 to $360.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Murphy USA from $325.00 to $330.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.60.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on MUSA
Murphy USA Trading Up 1.3 %
Murphy USA stock opened at $315.68 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 0.81. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.65 and a fifty-two week high of $323.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $306.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.94.
Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The specialty retailer reported $6.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $5.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.61 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 80.20%. Equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 21.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Murphy USA Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 25th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.01%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA
In other news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 18,971 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.40, for a total transaction of $5,964,482.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,473 shares in the company, valued at $71,203,111.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Murphy USA news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 18,971 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.40, for a total value of $5,964,482.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,473 shares in the company, valued at $71,203,111.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.31, for a total transaction of $211,617.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,642 shares of company stock worth $12,140,582 over the last three months. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.
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. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas.
Featured Articles
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MUSA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA – Free Report).
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat’s editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
Before you consider Murphy USA, you’ll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street’s top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on… and Murphy USA wasn’t on the list.
While Murphy USA currently has a “Hold” rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
Click the link below and we’ll send you MarketBeat’s list of seven best retirement stocks and why they should be in your portfolio.
