Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Purchased by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 622.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,048 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,488 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 6.1% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 35,240 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $17,369,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,573,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,566,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 14.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,011 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $45,543,000 after purchasing an additional 12,336 shares during the period. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1,465.2% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,774,000 after purchasing an additional 3,370 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $548.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $510.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $497.04. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $350.55 and a 12 month high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.33.

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.