758 Shares in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Purchased by Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 758 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $374,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 49,501.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,664,000 after purchasing an additional 388,090 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,387,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $863,116,000 after acquiring an additional 99,253 shares in the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 1,359.6% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 93,326 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $43,813,000 after acquiring an additional 86,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter worth $30,122,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target 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, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.33.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $547.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58 and a beta of 0.78. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $350.55 and a 52 week high of $561.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $513.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $499.42.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.69 EPS. Murphy USA’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

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.