California State Teachers Retirement System Boosts Stake in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 49,904.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,410,968 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 10,390,148 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 56.37% of Murphy USA worth $5,610,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 1.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $876,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Kenora Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Kenora Financial LLC now owns 654 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 864 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 802 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $606.89.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of MUSA opened at $516.37 on Thursday. The business's 50 day moving average is $569.62 and its 200 day moving average is $531.63. The company has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.25. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $349.83 and a 12-month high of $636.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 96.01% and a net margin of 2.87%.The company had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.36 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 34.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 100 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 approximately $131,947.20. The trade was a 28.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total transaction of $552,436.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,774.12. The trade was a 68.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company's primary operations center on two retail formats.

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