Advisors Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 94.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,736 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,819 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Murphy USA by 141.4% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 777.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 942.9% during the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 146 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 82.1% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $495.33.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $545.34 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average of $497.63 and a 200 day moving average of $487.30. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $350.55 and a 52 week high of $552.30. 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 (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.69 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 7.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. The trade was a 11.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

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.