Captrust Financial Advisors Makes New $204,000 Investment in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 414 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew 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 valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of 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. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 82.1% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 135.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at $94,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.6 %

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

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 7.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.33.

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.