Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 9.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 126,419 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 11,103 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $61,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in 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. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $291,068,000 after purchasing an additional 8,507 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 49,501.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $191,664,000 after purchasing an additional 388,090 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 388,271 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,407,000 after purchasing an additional 16,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position 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 worth $95,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUSA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.33.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $547.42 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $513.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $499.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $350.55 and a 52-week high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.69 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

Murphy USA Company 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.