First Hawaiian Bank Buys 32 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,394 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the quarter. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $699,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 40.4% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased 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. Key Financial Inc increased 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 valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 82.1% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 135.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

MUSA opened at $489.68 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $523.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $504.76. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $350.55 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The company has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released 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. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given 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 dividend yield of 0.39%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.40.

About Murphy USA

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.