Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Stake Raised by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 74.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,620 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,956 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $5,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,864,405 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $935,465,000 after acquiring an additional 54,658 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,783,849 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $895,046,000 after acquiring an additional 32,643 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 470,602 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $236,125,000 after acquiring an additional 18,097 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $211,135,000 after acquiring an additional 176,308 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,760 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $211,667,000 after acquiring an additional 33,489 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Melius Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $526.29.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $436.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $475.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $493.74. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $422.66 and a twelve month high of $561.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by ($1.24). The business had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.79 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 61.60%. The business’s revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total transaction of $395,391.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 approximately $2,783,200.66. This trade represents a 25.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043 over the last three months. 9.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Murphy USA Company 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.