Fiera Capital Corp Purchases 31,118 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 30.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 132,826 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,118 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $53,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MUSA. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Murphy USA by 82.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in Murphy USA by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Murphy USA during the third quarter valued at $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 317.6% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 423.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other news, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total value of $94,879.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,838. This represents a 24.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,632,263.52. The trade was a 25.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 43,225 shares of company stock worth $25,721,642 over the last quarter. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America raised shares of Murphy USA from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.71.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $547.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $345.23 and a 1 year high of $609.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $531.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $455.67. The stock has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA’s dividend 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.