Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lowered its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,750 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 49 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,340 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter valued at $522,000. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter valued at $214,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,952 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total value of $395,391.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 9.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $510.80.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

MUSA stock opened at $469.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 0.79. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $382.04 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $490.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $503.72.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.10%.

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.