Cynosure Group LLC Cuts Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Cynosure Group LLC cut its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 7.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,471 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 114 shares during the quarter. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 391 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 40.4% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 580 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $555.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.92 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $350.55 and a 52 week high of $558.65. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $497.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $488.24.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. Murphy USA’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.69 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 7.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Raymond James upped their price target on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One 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 MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has an average 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.