First Horizon Advisors Inc. Buys 129 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 64.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 330 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 777.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 141.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 40.4% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the first quarter worth approximately $69,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc raised its stake in Murphy USA by 942.9% in the third quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 146 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 11.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of MUSA opened at $545.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $497.63 and its 200-day moving average is $486.23. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $350.55 and a 12 month high of $552.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.69 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Murphy USA’s dividend 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.