Fiera Capital Corp Boosts Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 30.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 132,826 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 31,118 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp owned 0.72% of Murphy USA worth $53,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 82.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 317.6% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 423.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MUSA opened at $547.31 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $531.54 and its 200 day moving average is $455.67. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $609.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.63 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.64 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In related news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total value of $555,912.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. The trade was a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total transaction of $94,879.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 476 shares in the company, valued at $285,838. This represents a 24.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 43,225 shares of company stock worth $25,721,642. Company insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUSA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $350.00 to $550.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.71.

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.