Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 1,749 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,907 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,749 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.22% of Murphy USA worth $17,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 116.7% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 1st quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MUSA shares. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $474.00.

Murphy USA Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $357.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 0.42. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $382.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $413.87.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.20 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $367.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,835,050.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 389,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,830,015.72. This trade represents a 1.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total transaction of $717,982.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,337,979.58. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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.