Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,900 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,420,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth about $6,874,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,775,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 63,638 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $24,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,614 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,029,000. Finally, Evergreen Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,333,000. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total value of $297,011.33. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,245. This represents a 50.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total transaction of $1,641,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America raised shares of Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $539.50.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $534.70 on Tuesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $636.04. The firm has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $550.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $474.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The business’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. Analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.85%.

About Murphy USA

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.