Fiera Capital Corp Cuts Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Fiera Capital Corp decreased its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,708 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,756 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp owned about 0.54% of Murphy USA worth $39,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 2.7% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,282 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 0.3% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,902 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,249,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 9.3% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 472 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 5.1% in the third quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp set a $500.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $457.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In related news, CEO Malynda K. West sold 3,967 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $1,785,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at $52,825,050. This represents a 3.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 345 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.84, for a total transaction of $139,669.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,503.68. This trade represents a 49.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,935 shares of company stock worth $4,248,945. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Down 1.6%

NYSE:MUSA opened at $389.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $523.09. The company has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $413.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $392.23.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.88 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 75.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.96 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 10.38%.

Murphy USA Profile

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.