Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Purchased by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 6,474.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,148 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 12,948 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $6,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,874,000. Evergreen Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth $1,333,000. Viking Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth $2,421,000. Millennium Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at $1,029,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at $1,134,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research cut Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.56.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $598.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $561.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $490.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $345.23 and a 12 month high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total transaction of $24,773,840.00. Following the sale, the director owned 342,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,286,875.52. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total value of $94,879.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,838. The trade was a 24.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Murphy USA

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.