California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 1,500 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

California State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,320 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.10% of Murphy USA worth $10,410,968 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth about $915,734,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the second quarter valued at about $78,372,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,726,000. Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter worth $49,320,000. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,457,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.60, for a total value of $52,360.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 252 shares in the company, valued at $131,947.20. This represents a 28.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total value of $552,436.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 449 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,774.12. The trade was a 68.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Weiss Ratings cut Murphy USA from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Capital One Financial started coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $710.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $606.89.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Murphy USA stock traded up $4.95 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $532.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 106,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 326,793. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $349.83 and a 52-week high of $636.04. The firm's 50-day moving average is $567.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $534.50. The company has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 96.01%. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.36 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 34.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 24th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 24th. This is a boost from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA's payout ratio is presently 7.92%.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA Inc NYSE: MUSA operates a network of retail fuel stations and convenience stores in the United States. Its locations primarily serve motorists and local communities, offering gasoline and diesel fuel along with convenience merchandise.

The company's stores sell products such as tobacco, nicotine products, beverages, snacks, packaged food, and other general merchandise. Many locations also provide prepared food and other convenience services, with product offerings designed to complement the company's fuel business.

Murphy USA was established as an independent publicly traded company in 2013 following its separation from Murphy Oil Corporation.

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