First Horizon Advisors Inc. Buys 129 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 64.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 330 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $163,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter worth $69,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 451.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,887 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,401,000 after buying an additional 10,552 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Murphy USA by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $102,797,000 after buying an additional 1,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,617 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE:MUSA opened at $545.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.50 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $497.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $486.23. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $350.55 and a 1 year high of $552.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The trade was a 11.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $495.33.

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.