Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases Shares of 22,977 Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 22,977 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $11,529,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.11% of Murphy USA as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 49,501.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,664,000 after buying an additional 388,090 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $211,135,000 after acquiring an additional 176,308 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in Murphy USA during the third quarter worth $53,387,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $863,116,000 after purchasing an additional 99,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,122,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $509.40.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $475.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.63 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $521.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $505.44. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $350.55 and a twelve month 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.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The company’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

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.