Swiss National Bank Has $17.39 Million Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Swiss National Bank lowered its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,207 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 960 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.19% of Murphy USA worth $17,391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at approximately $11,879,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 86,420 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $42,689,000 after purchasing an additional 24,296 shares during the last quarter. Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA in the first quarter worth $317,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Murphy USA by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 149,064 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $73,633,000 after acquiring an additional 4,836 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 23.2% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,122 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,482,000 after purchasing an additional 2,469 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MUSA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $585.11.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total transaction of $94,879.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 476 shares in the company, valued at $285,838. This trade represents a 24.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total transaction of $1,641,750.00. Following the sale, the director owned 53,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy USA Trading Down 1.5%

MUSA opened at $613.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The stock has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $566.52 and a 200-day moving average of $499.00. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $345.23 and a 52 week high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.64 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 8.85%.

Murphy USA Profile

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.