Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Reduces Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lowered its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,595 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 131 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $6,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MUSA. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 3.8% during the first quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 844 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 5.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 643 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 499 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Murphy USA by 4.4% in the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 860 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 10,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $440.32, for a total transaction of $4,575,805.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,871,580.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 10,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $440.32, for a total transaction of $4,575,805.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 199,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,871,580.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 854 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $438.75, for a total transaction of $374,692.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,818,436.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,451 shares of company stock valued at $5,032,498. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock traded up $2.83 on Friday, hitting $474.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 212,232. The company has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80 and a beta of 0.77. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $282.49 and a 52-week high of $489.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $450.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $414.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty retailer reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.97). Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 64.45%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 7.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUSA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $408.60.

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.