Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Acquired by Tidal Investments LLC

Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 122.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,966 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MUSA. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 49,501.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $191,664,000 after buying an additional 388,090 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter worth about $53,387,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 99,253 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1,359.6% during the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 93,326 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $43,813,000 after buying an additional 86,932 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter worth about $30,122,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE MUSA opened at $539.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 0.78. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $350.55 and a 52-week high of $561.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $513.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $499.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.69 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MUSA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of 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 five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.33.

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.