Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Invests $94,000 in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $94,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 45,830 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $16,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,482 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 8,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,177,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth $295,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 312.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $847,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $499.59 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $339.96 and a one year high of $552.30. The company has a market cap of $10.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $509.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $464.05.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MUSA. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $464.57.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,971,533.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,971,533.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Murphy USA

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.