Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 1,482 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,017 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,482 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $18,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth about $6,874,000. Evergreen Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,333,000. Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,421,000. Millennium Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,029,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,134,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $585.11.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the business’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 value of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. The trade was a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total value of $24,773,840.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 342,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,286,875.52. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock valued at $27,363,392. Insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Up 1.2%

MUSA opened at $618.22 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $564.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $496.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $345.23 and a 12 month high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Murphy USA Profile

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.