Waterloo Capital L.P. Has $986,000 Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,965 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth $112,741,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Murphy USA by 69.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $211,135,000 after acquiring an additional 176,308 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at $53,777,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,122,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 54,658 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,783,200.66. The trade was a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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. Insiders sold a total of 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043 over the last ninety days. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $470.95 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $471.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $493.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $382.04 and a 12-month high of $561.08.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change 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 was Monday, February 24th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 8.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.