Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Holdings Decreased by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lessened its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 43.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,759 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 9,096 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.06% of Murphy USA worth $5,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $863,116,000 after purchasing an additional 99,253 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 49,501.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $191,664,000 after buying an additional 388,090 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 204,363 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $95,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 141,637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $66,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,635 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,387,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:MUSA opened at $541.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $503.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $492.99. 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 52 week low of $350.55 and a 52 week high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.69 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” 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.