Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires Shares of 4,767 Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired 4,767 Murphy USA shares worth approximately $2.57 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 80.81% of the company.
• Murphy USA exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $11.27 in EPS versus the $9.95 consensus and $6.81 billion in revenue, up 36% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $606.89, while Murphy USA raised its quarterly dividend to $0.65 per share.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,767 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $2,569,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at $915,734,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 149.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $204,753,000 after buying an additional 304,354 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 676.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $69,243,000 after buying an additional 148,301 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter valued at about $78,372,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at about $50,726,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Murphy USA stock opened at $511.16 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $349.83 and a 52 week high of $636.04. The company's 50 day moving average price is $571.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $528.16. 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 $9.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.25.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is a boost from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 24th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In related news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total transaction of $552,436.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,774.12. This represents a 68.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.60, for a total transaction of $52,360.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 252 shares of the company's stock, valued at $131,947.20. This trade represents a 28.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 9.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MUSA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $619.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $550.00 to $625.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Murphy USA from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $380.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Murphy USA from $655.00 to $633.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $606.89.

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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