Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by CWA Asset Management Group LLC

CWA Asset Management Group LLC decreased its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,162 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 30 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,104,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 348.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 139 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Murphy USA by 69.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $211,135,000 after buying an additional 176,308 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 126,419 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $61,873,000 after buying an additional 11,103 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MUSA shares. StockNews.com upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.40.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $501.80 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $522.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $504.85. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $350.55 and a 52-week high of $561.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70 and a beta of 0.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The business’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.69 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 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.