GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 51 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,034 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 22.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 8,385 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 6.1% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 35,240 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $17,369,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,573,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $211,135,000 after acquiring an additional 176,308 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 622.9% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,048 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 3,488 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $500.41 on Monday. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $350.55 and a fifty-two week high of $561.08. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $521.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $504.53.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. Murphy USA’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock 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, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.40.

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.