Alberta Investment Management Corp Raises Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 100.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,208 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 1,108 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,364 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $6,204,000 after acquiring an additional 3,486 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Murphy USA by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,780 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Murphy USA by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,539 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,284,000 after acquiring an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,760 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $211,667,000 after acquiring an additional 33,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 956 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David C. Haley bought 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $435.58 per share, for a total transaction of $435,580.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,580. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 10.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $350.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Murphy USA from $520.00 to $440.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial cut Murphy USA from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Murphy USA from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $476.29.

Murphy USA Stock Down 1.0%

Murphy USA stock traded down $3.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $362.63. The stock had a trading volume of 437,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 365,278. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.80. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $561.08. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $415.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.03.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $5.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.17 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.63% and a net margin of 2.52%. The business's revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.92 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.