Norges Bank Takes Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Norges Bank bought a new position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 224,696 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $112,741,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 248.9% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,240 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,629,000 after acquiring an additional 3,738 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 6,736 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,115 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,657 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,375,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Murphy USA by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,864,405 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $935,465,000 after purchasing an additional 54,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 39.3% during the 4th 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. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Melius started coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Melius Research raised Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $525.67.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $475.95 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $382.04 and a one year high of $561.08. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $471.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $494.28. The company has a market capitalization of $9.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67 and a beta of 0.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. Analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 8.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,783,200.66. This trade represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total transaction of $395,391.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.