Janus Henderson Group PLC Boosts Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,836 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $5,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 46.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 9,890 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,874,000 after buying an additional 3,135 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Murphy USA by 69.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $211,135,000 after purchasing an additional 176,308 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,529,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,562 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Murphy USA by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Raymond James downgraded Murphy USA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Melius started coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Melius Research raised Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $526.29.

Murphy USA Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of MUSA opened at $457.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88 and a beta of 0.59. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $424.03 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $474.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $493.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.87 by ($1.24). The firm had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.79 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 8.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. The trade was a 25.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.31, for a total value of $360,491.07. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,062,476.19. This represents a 25.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

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.