Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Bridgewater Associates LP

Bridgewater Associates LP cut its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 38.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,958 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,946 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $3,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Murphy USA by 141.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 40.4% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 777.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 942.9% during the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 146 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MUSA shares. 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 research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $495.33.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $548.94 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $500.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $489.98. 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 market capitalization of $11.12 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83 and a beta of 0.75. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $350.55 and a fifty-two week high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The company’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 7.92%.

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.