Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 9,822 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 90.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,685 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,822 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Murphy USA worth $10,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 49,501.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,664,000 after purchasing an additional 388,090 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Murphy USA by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $102,797,000 after buying an additional 1,519 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 204,363 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $95,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 141,637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $66,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,387,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $529.19 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $350.55 and a 52-week high of $552.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $497.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $481.85.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during 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 business’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders 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. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James lifted their target price on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $495.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

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.