Boston Partners Takes Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Boston Partners purchased a new position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 32,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $12,829,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 89.8% in the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 33,991 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,969,000 after acquiring an additional 16,080 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 1st quarter worth about $264,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,839 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,032,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 2,397 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its position in Murphy USA by 103.3% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 744 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUSA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price target for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $474.00.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $385.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $377.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $396.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 0.39. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $558.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.60 by $0.65. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 69.87%. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.20 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 16,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total value of $6,196,612.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,172 shares in the company, valued at $22,564,058.76. This represents a 21.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.