NBC Securities Inc. Purchases 1,114 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 111,400.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,115 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $523,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $211,135,000 after purchasing an additional 176,308 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Murphy USA by 46.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 9,890 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,874,000 after buying an additional 3,135 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Murphy USA by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,364 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $6,204,000 after buying an additional 3,486 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Murphy USA by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,603 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,310,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth about $5,042,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Melius initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Raymond James lowered Murphy USA from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stephens decreased their target price on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Murphy USA to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $526.29.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, Director David C. Haley purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $435.58 per share, for a total transaction of $435,580.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $435,580. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE MUSA traded up $4.82 on Friday, reaching $424.80. The stock had a trading volume of 198,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 216,422. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.51 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $469.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $485.37. The company has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.87 by ($1.24). The business had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.79 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. Murphy USA's revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.12 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.44%.

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.