Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Decreases Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its Murphy USA stake by 26.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 16,700 shares and leaving it with 46,638 shares valued at about $18.8 million.
• Murphy USA beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $7.28 EPS on $4.82 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 6.5% year over year and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.64.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a consensus price target of $515.14, even as several executives recently sold shares.

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 26.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,638 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 16,700 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned approximately 0.25% of Murphy USA worth $18,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 152.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 17,228 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $6,955,000 after buying an additional 10,402 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 646 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth about $6,946,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,754 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $9,182,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meixler Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth about $1,602,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Murphy USA stock opened at $585.48 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $541.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $463.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.30. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 91.05% and a net margin of 2.81%.The business's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.63 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA's payout ratio is presently 8.85%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total value of $297,011.33. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $287,245. The trade was a 50.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total value of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,263.52. This represents a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392. Company insiders own 9.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on MUSA shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $539.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised Murphy USA from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.14.

About Murphy USA

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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