Baird Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 112,208 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 6,858 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.55% of Murphy USA worth $56,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,207,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth $11,529,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $211,135,000 after buying an additional 176,308 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 58.6% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,838 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 46.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 9,890 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,135 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA stock traded up $1.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $445.45. 783,272 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 206,116. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $422.66 and a 12-month high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $476.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $494.21.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.87 by ($1.24). The firm had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.79 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.12 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. This is a boost from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MUSA. Raymond James cut Murphy USA from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $525.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Murphy USA to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $526.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043. Insiders own 9.04% of the company's stock.

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.