Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Buys 2,138 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 31.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,948 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $3,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 446,654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $181,732,000 after purchasing an additional 3,447 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Murphy USA by 5.4% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 442,130 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $207,717,000 after buying an additional 22,733 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 94.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 371,667 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $174,613,000 after buying an additional 180,055 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 268,373 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $126,065,000 after buying an additional 46,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 902.2% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 153,202 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $71,976,000 after buying an additional 137,915 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $474.00.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $355.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The stock has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 0.39. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $345.23 and a 12-month high of $561.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $379.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $403.44.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.60 by $0.65. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 69.87% and a net margin of 2.43%.The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 10.63%.

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, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.