Magnetar Financial LLC Buys Shares of 1,824 Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,824 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $915,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at $433,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 6,129 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,021,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 94.9% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,736 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,841,000 after buying an additional 1,819 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 64.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 330 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 15,865 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,819,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Melius Research upgraded Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $525.67.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MUSA opened at $440.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $474.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $497.37. The stock has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20 and a beta of 0.80. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $382.04 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.10%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total transaction of $395,391.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.