Cannell & Spears LLC Boosts Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Cannell & Spears LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,480 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,508 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Murphy USA worth $16,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,539 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,284,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 284,564 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $142,780,000 after acquiring an additional 16,954 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 26,846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,470,000 after acquiring an additional 9,827 shares during the period. Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $415,000. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,113,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Melius started coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Melius Research raised Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $525.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 5,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.31, for a total value of $360,491.07. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,062,476.19. The trade was a 25.33 % 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 Price Performance

Murphy USA stock opened at $459.90 on Monday. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $471.75 and its 200 day moving average is $495.15. The company has a market cap of $9.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 0.80.

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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS 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 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

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.