Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Cadence Bank

Cadence Bank lowered its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 414,720 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Murphy USA makes up approximately 14.1% of Cadence Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $204,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $740,000. FMR LLC lifted its position 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 worth $863,116,000 after purchasing an additional 99,253 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 7.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 14.5% in the third quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 5.4% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 391 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $495.33.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:MUSA traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $549.57. 18,353 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 195,461. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $497.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $487.30. The firm has a market cap of $11.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74 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 $558.65. 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 (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.69 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 7.92%.

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.