Martingale Asset Management L P Sells 19,611 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Martingale Asset Management L P reduced its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 33.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,387 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 19,611 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P owned approximately 0.19% of Murphy USA worth $19,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. De Lisle Partners LLP boosted its position in Murphy USA by 7.6% during the third quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 35,406 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $17,432,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 2.6% during the third quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 14,399 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,097,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 23.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 973 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at approximately $740,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $863,116,000 after buying an additional 99,253 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $495.33.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $553.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $500.48 and a 200 day moving average of $489.98. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $350.55 and a 52-week high of $561.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83 and a beta of 0.75.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.69 EPS. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. This is a positive change 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 7.92%.

Murphy USA 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.