Assetmark Inc. Increases Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,240 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $17,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 777.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 21 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the 1st quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc boosted its position in Murphy USA by 942.9% in 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 during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MUSA shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James increased their price target on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $495.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Up 2.0 %

MUSA opened at $518.24 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The firm has a market cap of $10.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.38 and a beta of 0.75. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $350.55 and a 12 month high of $552.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $495.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $478.97.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.