Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 1,749 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,907 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,749 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $17,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 2,594.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,038 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $66,731,000 after purchasing an additional 136,766 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the 1st quarter valued at $241,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the 1st quarter valued at $3,683,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 34,898 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $14,197,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in Murphy USA by 81.9% during the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,812 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $357.88 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $345.23 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $382.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $413.87.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.60 by $0.65. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 69.87%. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.20 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $367.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,835,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 389,172 shares in the company, valued at $142,830,015.72. The trade was a 1.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total transaction of $717,982.98. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,337,979.58. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on MUSA shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $474.00.

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.