CENTRAL TRUST Co Has $255,000 Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 28.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 626 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 94.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 371,667 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $174,613,000 after buying an additional 180,055 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Murphy USA by 902.2% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 153,202 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $71,976,000 after acquiring an additional 137,915 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 2,594.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,038 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $66,731,000 after acquiring an additional 136,766 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 61.5% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 252,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $118,662,000 after acquiring an additional 96,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 2,283.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 69,797 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,393,000 after acquiring an additional 66,869 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research raised Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $474.00.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $363.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $380.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $405.08. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $345.23 and a 52 week high of $561.08. The firm has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $5.11 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 69.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.63%.

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.