Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Acquires New Shares in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 7,517 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,680,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MUSA. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,080,410 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $369,208,000 after purchasing an additional 140,879 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 30.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 308,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $105,389,000 after acquiring an additional 72,537 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Murphy USA by 35,556.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 269,916 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,241,000 after acquiring an additional 269,159 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 192,574 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $65,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Murphy USA by 1.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 164,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $56,180,000 after acquiring an additional 2,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total value of $275,925.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,002,722.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 1,235 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $407.96, for a total transaction of $503,830.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,797,249.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total transaction of $275,925.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,002,722.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,440 shares of company stock valued at $4,244,582 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.9 %

MUSA stock traded down $3.81 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $417.30. The stock had a trading volume of 21,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 203,870. The firm has a market cap of $8.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.93 and a 1-year high of $430.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $412.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $382.37.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 6.59%.

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.