Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by Acropolis Investment Management LLC

Acropolis Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 311 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 55 shares during the quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MUSA. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% in the 3rd 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 increased its stake in Murphy USA by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $291,068,000 after acquiring an additional 8,507 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $211,135,000 after purchasing an additional 176,308 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 4.3% in 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 in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy USA Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE MUSA opened at $483.60 on Thursday. 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 fifty-two week low of $350.55 and a fifty-two week high of $561.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $522.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $505.20. The stock has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95 and a beta of 0.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.69 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. 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 0.40%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $509.40.

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.