Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 978 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MUSA. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its stake in 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 Murphy USA by 94.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,736 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 26.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 8,758 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $708,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 391 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murphy USA news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at $2,783,200.66. This trade represents a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of MUSA opened at $447.00 on Tuesday. 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 current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $473.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $496.75. The stock has a market cap of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

About Murphy USA

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.