Quantbot Technologies LP Makes New Investment in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,346 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $725,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth about $915,734,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 149.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,753,000 after purchasing an additional 304,354 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 506,214 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,267,000 after purchasing an additional 7,973 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 318,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $128,511,000 after buying an additional 99,798 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 300,758 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $121,365,000 after buying an additional 1,930 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total transaction of $552,436.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,774.12. This represents a 68.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MUSA. Wall Street Zen upgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $619.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. KeyCorp increased their price target on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.89.

Murphy USA Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $532.05 on Thursday. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $349.83 and a fifty-two week high of $636.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $574.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $522.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.28.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $1.32. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 96.01%. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 33.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.92%.

Murphy USA Profile

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.