Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys Shares of 6,968 Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings initiated a Murphy USA position, buying 6,968 shares worth approximately $3.77 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company, with BlackRock also establishing a sizable new position.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with six Buy ratings and five Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $606.89.
• Murphy USA exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $11.27 in earnings per share and $6.81 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 36% year over year. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.65 per share.

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,968 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $3,771,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $915,734,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 149.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $204,753,000 after purchasing an additional 304,354 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 506,214 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $204,267,000 after purchasing an additional 7,973 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Murphy USA by 45.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 318,473 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $128,511,000 after purchasing an additional 99,798 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Murphy USA by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 300,758 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $121,365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,930 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Murphy USA from $655.00 to $633.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $606.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other news, SVP Eric Bartko sold 100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $523.60, for a total transaction of $52,360.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 252 shares in the company, valued at $131,947.20. The trade was a 28.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $256,774.12. This represents a 68.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 9.02% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA stock opened at $526.27 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $568.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $532.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The stock has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.25. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $349.83 and a fifty-two week high of $636.04.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

About Murphy USA

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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