Convergence Investment Partners LLC Boosts Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 15.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,080,410 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $369,208,000 after acquiring an additional 140,879 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 308,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $105,389,000 after purchasing an additional 72,537 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 35,556.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 269,916 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,241,000 after purchasing an additional 269,159 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 192,574 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $65,808,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Murphy USA by 1.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 164,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $56,180,000 after buying an additional 2,996 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $375.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $408.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total transaction of $275,925.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,002,722.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total value of $275,925.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,002,722.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total value of $2,837,410.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,607,700.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,440 shares of company stock valued at $4,244,582. Insiders own 9.73% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $421.34 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $414.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $383.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.93 and a 1-year high of $430.83. The company has a market cap of $8.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 0.76.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.79 by $1.21. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 70.92% and a net margin of 2.59%. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.21 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.59%.

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.