King Luther Capital Management Corp Acquires 64 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 0.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,865 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $7,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in Murphy USA by 10.3% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 35,240 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $17,369,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,617 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,573,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in Murphy USA by 62.7% in 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 last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. The trade was a 11.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $531.34 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $497.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $484.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $350.55 and a one year high of $552.30. The firm has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.92 and a beta of 0.75.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.69 EPS. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MUSA shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James upped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.