Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 1,389 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,763 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $7,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CX Institutional acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In related news, CFO Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 1,460 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $515.65, for a total transaction of $752,849.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,945,702.55. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total value of $552,436.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,774.12. This represents a 68.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,526 shares of company stock worth $1,869,005. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MUSA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Murphy USA from $612.00 to $621.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Murphy USA from $633.00 to $626.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.33.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of MUSA opened at $535.71 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $521.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $518.50. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $353.32 and a twelve month high of $636.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.31.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The specialty retailer reported $9.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.37 by $1.22. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 92.81%. The company had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 35.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 8.07%.

About Murphy USA

Murphy USA Inc. operates retail gasoline stations and convenience stores across the United States under the Murphy USA and Murphy Express brands. Its stores sell branded and unbranded gasoline and diesel fuel, along with convenience items such as beverages, snacks, tobacco products and other everyday merchandise. The company’s locations are concentrated in the South, Midwest and other parts of the country, including stores associated with its QuickChek brand in the Northeast. Murphy USA became an independent publicly traded company in 2013 after being spun off from Murphy Oil Corporation.