Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Decreases Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd decreased its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 68.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 496 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,065 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $244,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 391 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Murphy USA by 5.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 7.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MUSA shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $495.33.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA stock opened at $555.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $497.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $488.24. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $350.55 and a 52-week high of $558.65. 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 (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. The company 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 firm’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.69 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.