Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Grows Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,948 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 712 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth $796,000. Mariner LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,873 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,448,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 213.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,008 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $15,559,000 after purchasing an additional 21,118 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,171 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Murphy USA by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 68,062 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $34,150,000 after buying an additional 9,911 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens upgraded Murphy USA to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Melius Research raised shares of Murphy USA to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $550.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $539.00.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE MUSA traded up $4.57 on Friday, hitting $511.03. 134,910 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 204,654. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business's fifty day moving average is $469.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $493.15. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $382.04 and a 12 month high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Murphy USA's payout ratio is 8.10%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In related news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.31, for a total value of $360,491.07. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,062,476.19. This represents a 25.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.