Atria Investments Inc Raises Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 17.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,669 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 3.8% in the second quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 5.6% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 580 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $521.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 0.75. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $350.55 and a 1-year high of $552.30. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $497.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $482.83.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. Murphy USA’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.69 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 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 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.92%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 11.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Murphy USA 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.