Clearbridge Investments LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 284,564 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 16,954 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $142,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 8,758 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,317,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $708,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $740,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 973 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.31, for a total transaction of $360,491.07. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,062,476.19. This trade represents a 25.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,594 shares of company stock worth $1,695,043 over the last three months. 9.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $459.90 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $471.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $495.15. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $382.04 and a one 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.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.49 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 8.10%.

Murphy USA 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.