Cumberland Partners Ltd Acquires 250 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Murphy USA by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,080,410 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $369,208,000 after buying an additional 140,879 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Murphy USA by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 308,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $105,389,000 after buying an additional 72,537 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Murphy USA by 35,556.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 269,916 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,241,000 after buying an additional 269,159 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Murphy USA by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 192,574 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $65,808,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Murphy USA by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 164,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $56,180,000 after buying an additional 2,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.8 %

MUSA stock traded up $3.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $419.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 91,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 205,312. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $412.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $381.95. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.93 and a 1 year high of $430.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 0.76.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.79 by $1.21. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 70.92% and a net margin of 2.59%. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.4 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.59%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.42, for a total value of $627,415.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,098,491.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total transaction of $275,925.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,002,722.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,525 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.42, for a total value of $627,415.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,098,491.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,440 shares of company stock worth $4,244,582 over the last three months. 9.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUSA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $375.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $408.60.

Murphy USA 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.