De Lisle Partners LLP Has $17.43 Million Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

De Lisle Partners LLP grew its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,406 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Murphy USA makes up approximately 2.8% of De Lisle Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. De Lisle Partners LLP owned 0.17% of Murphy USA worth $17,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Murphy USA by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 35,240 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $17,369,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 24.3% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,617 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the third quarter worth about $1,573,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,566,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Murphy USA by 28.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,546 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $553.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $11.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84 and a beta of 0.75. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $350.55 and a 12-month high of $561.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $498.51 and a 200-day moving average of $489.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued 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 analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.