Amalgamated Bank Boosts Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,901 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank owned about 0.07% of Murphy USA worth $5,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 15.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 308,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $105,389,000 after purchasing an additional 72,537 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 35,556.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 269,916 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,241,000 after purchasing an additional 269,159 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $65,808,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% in the third 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $402.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.89 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $414.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $385.36. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $268.69 and a 52 week high of $430.83.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty retailer reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.97). Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 64.45%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 7.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 2,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,002,722.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Murphy USA news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,002,722.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $627,415.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,098,491.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,440 shares of company stock worth $4,244,582. 9.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MUSA. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $408.60.

About Murphy USA

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.