Fox Run Management L.L.C. Makes New $583,000 Investment in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,162 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $583,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 6.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $863,116,000 after purchasing an additional 99,253 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $291,068,000 after purchasing an additional 8,507 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $211,135,000 after purchasing an additional 176,308 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 4.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 388,271 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $191,407,000 after purchasing an additional 16,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 183,041 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $91,841,000 after purchasing an additional 3,641 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.31, for a total value of $360,491.07. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,062,476.19. This trade represents a 25.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043 over the last three months. 9.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $447.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $473.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $496.75. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $382.04 and a 52 week high of $561.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47 and a beta of 0.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.10%.

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.