Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Cuts Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,894 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,074 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.44% of Murphy USA worth $44,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 49,501.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,664,000 after acquiring an additional 388,090 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $211,135,000 after buying an additional 176,308 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the third quarter worth about $53,387,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $863,116,000 after acquiring an additional 99,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,122,000. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $509.40.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $475.85 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $350.55 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.63 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50-day moving average is $521.15 and its 200 day moving average is $505.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly 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. The company 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 firm’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.92%.

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.