Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Purchased by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,522 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $11,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth about $112,741,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $211,135,000 after buying an additional 176,308 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,777,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,864,405 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $935,465,000 after buying an additional 54,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 212,247 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $106,495,000 after purchasing an additional 41,295 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In related news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,062,476.19. The trade was a 25.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Melius Research raised shares of Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Melius began coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Murphy USA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $526.29.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:MUSA opened at $457.00 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $9.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $474.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $493.20. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $424.03 and a fifty-two week high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by ($1.24). The company had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.79 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 8.44%.

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.