Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Acquires New Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,517 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,680,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,080,410 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $369,208,000 after buying an additional 140,879 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 308,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $105,389,000 after purchasing an additional 72,537 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 35,556.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 269,916 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,241,000 after purchasing an additional 269,159 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 192,574 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $65,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 164,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $56,180,000 after purchasing an additional 2,996 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUSA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $408.60.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE MUSA traded down $3.81 on Thursday, reaching $417.30. The company had a trading volume of 21,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 203,870. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $412.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $382.37. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $267.93 and a 12 month high of $430.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 0.76.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.79 by $1.21. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 70.92%. The firm had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 1,235 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $407.96, for a total transaction of $503,830.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,797,249.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total value of $2,837,410.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,700.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 1,235 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $407.96, for a total transaction of $503,830.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,797,249.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,440 shares of company stock valued at $4,244,582 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA 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.