Fiera Capital Corp Buys New Shares in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 108,318 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $53,387,000. Fiera Capital Corp owned 0.53% of Murphy USA as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 42.0% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at $288,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 93.5% in the third quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 1,954 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc grew its position in Murphy USA by 942.9% during the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 146 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 232.2% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 35,378 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $17,437,000 after purchasing an additional 24,727 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MUSA shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $495.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock traded up $10.11 on Friday, hitting $518.40. The company had a trading volume of 162,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,396. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $350.55 and a 52 week high of $552.30. The company has a market cap of $10.50 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $495.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $477.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.69 EPS. Research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.92%.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.