Bessemer Group Inc. Has $42.69 Million Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 39.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,420 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,296 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $42,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 82.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Murphy USA by 106.7% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 423.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 148.5% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 82 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total transaction of $24,773,840.00. Following the sale, the director owned 342,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,286,875.52. This represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total value of $94,879.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,838. The trade was a 24.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392 over the last three months. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $618.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.43 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $562.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $491.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $636.04.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MUSA. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Capital One Financial started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp raised their target price on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.56.

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.