Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Bought by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 57.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 26,846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 9,827 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $13,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. 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. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $291,068,000 after buying an additional 8,507 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $211,135,000 after acquiring an additional 176,308 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 4.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 388,271 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,407,000 after acquiring an additional 16,006 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $112,741,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $459.90 on Monday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $382.04 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $471.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $495.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The company has a market cap of $9.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 0.80.

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, 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total transaction of $395,391.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This trade represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043 in the last three months. Company 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.