Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Acquired by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 130.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,506 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 7,090 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $6,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,874,000. Millennium Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,029,000. Evergreen Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,333,000. Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,421,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,134,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was 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 $204,286,875.52. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total transaction of $297,011.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,245. The trade was a 50.84% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUSA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.56.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $611.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $560.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $486.61. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $345.23 and a 12 month high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.Murphy USA’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 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 is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.