Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC decreased its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 5.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 941 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 56 shares during the period. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 1,091.4% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 14,464 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,063,000 after buying an additional 13,250 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 21.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 16,673 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,991,000 after buying an additional 2,911 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 10.3% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,646,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 24.3% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,617 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 62.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,455 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,902,000 after buying an additional 1,717 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $472.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $498.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $474.65. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $350.55 and a 1 year high of $552.30. The company has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.76%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total transaction of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Murphy USA 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MUSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $495.33.

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.