Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 0.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 446,654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,447 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $181,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its position in Murphy USA by 89.8% in the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 33,991 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,969,000 after purchasing an additional 16,080 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 21.7% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Services grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 25.2% during the first quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 1,197 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 81.9% during the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,812 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $851,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA stock opened at $358.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $345.23 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $378.96 and a 200 day moving average of $401.78. The company has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.11 and a beta of 0.39.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.60 by $0.65. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 69.87% and a net margin of 2.43%.The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.20 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 10.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUSA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $474.00.

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.