Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Bought by Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 58.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,838 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MUSA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 40.4% in 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 last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 186.1% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 103 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 348.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 139 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 942.9% in the third quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 146 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 135.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MUSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com cut Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $509.40.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $483.60 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $522.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $505.20. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $350.55 and a 1-year high of $561.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend yield of 0.40%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.