California State Teachers Retirement System Grows Stake in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 20.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,820 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,545 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $10,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 12,797 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,322,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 23.2% during the first quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 146,119 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $71,986,000 after buying an additional 27,513 shares during the period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,457,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in Murphy USA by 4.5% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,897 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,371,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the period. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 1st quarter worth $1,955,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MUSA. Bank of America upped their price objective on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $619.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $596.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total value of $297,011.33. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,245. This represents a 50.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,464,487.25. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,567 shares of company stock valued at $2,494,673. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $592.12 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The company has a market capitalization of $10.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.28. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $349.83 and a 12 month high of $636.04. The business’s 50-day moving average is $572.94 and its 200 day moving average is $507.04.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 8.85%.

About Murphy USA

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.