Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Bought by Pathstone Holdings LLC

Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 2.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,129 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $3,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 49,501.3% during 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 buying an additional 388,090 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $102,797,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 204,363 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $95,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 141,637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $66,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,387,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Murphy USA Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $545.34 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50 and a beta of 0.75. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $350.55 and a 12-month high of $552.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $497.63 and a 200 day moving average of $487.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.69 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be given 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 is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 7.92%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This represents a 11.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.