Stifel Financial Corp Has $4.13 Million Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 22.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,385 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,526 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $4,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 863 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $801,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 3,036 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,517,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter worth approximately $1,706,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at approximately $18,971,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MUSA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock 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 report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.33.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $550.90 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73 and a beta of 0.78. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $350.55 and a one year high of $561.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $511.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $498.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Murphy USA 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.