Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,718 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 779 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $7,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 28.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,546 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,906,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 10.8% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,952 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,229,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 777.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 6.5% during the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $540.66 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $350.55 and a twelve month high of $561.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $504.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $493.32. The stock has a market cap of $10.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30 and a beta of 0.78.

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, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MUSA. StockNews.com cut Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $495.33.

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.