First Horizon Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 35.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 259 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GW&K Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the first quarter worth $27,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 116.7% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $474.00.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total transaction of $717,982.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,337,979.58. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

MUSA stock opened at $362.92 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $345.23 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The company has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.31 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $381.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $407.54.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.60 by $0.65. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.11 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 69.87% and a net margin of 2.43%.Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.94%.

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.