Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Bought by Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec significantly increased its stake in Murphy USA Inc. by 265.4% during the first quarter, owning 26,489 shares valued at approximately $12.45 million after purchasing 19,239 additional shares.
• Several hedge funds raised their holdings in Murphy USA, including GAMMA Investing LLC, which raised their stake by an extraordinary 53,469.2%.
• Murphy USA announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.53 per share, up from the previous $0.50, with a yield of 0.6% set to be paid on September 4th.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 265.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,489 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 19,239 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned 0.13% of Murphy USA worth $12,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 2.6% during the first quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 15,772 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $7,410,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at $512,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 7.5% in the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 7,668 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,603,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the first quarter valued at about $1,162,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 14.5% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 379 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $367.01 per share, with a total value of $1,835,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 389,172 shares in the company, valued at $142,830,015.72. This trade represents a 1.30% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total transaction of $717,982.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 117,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,337,979.58. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of MUSA traded up $1.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $376.32. 219,027 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 318,278. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $561.08. The stock has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $401.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $439.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Murphy USA's payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MUSA shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $350.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Murphy USA from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $476.29.

Murphy USA Company 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.