Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Holdings Decreased by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 31.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,469 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 17,806 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $19,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Waterloo Capital L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 1,965 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $986,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 122.0% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 14,560 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,306,000 after purchasing an additional 8,001 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 116,444 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $58,426,000 after purchasing an additional 3,944 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth $1,780,000. Finally, Islay Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at $731,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Melius began coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Melius Research raised Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $525.67.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Murphy USA stock opened at $463.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15 and a beta of 0.73. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $382.04 and a fifty-two week high of $561.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $469.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $492.59.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total transaction of $395,391.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at $2,783,200.66. This trade represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043 in the last 90 days. 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.