Verus Capital Partners LLC Has $424,000 Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 5.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 861 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised 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 buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 580 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 141.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 25.6% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $530.02 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The firm has a market cap of $10.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $496.02 and a 200-day moving average of $480.46. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $350.55 and a 12-month high of $552.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 yield of 0.36%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 7.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James lifted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded 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 research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $495.33.

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.