Atria Investments Inc Purchases 243 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,669 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 40.4% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted 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 last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of 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. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% during 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. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Murphy USA by 25.6% in the 2nd 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 period. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA opened at $521.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $497.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $482.83. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $350.55 and a 52-week high of $552.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 11.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy USA

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.