Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys 55 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Monument Capital Management grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 10,506 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,271,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 803 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Vista Finance LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth about $291,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 100 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Davidson Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Murphy USA by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,534 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,278,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $510.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total value of $395,391.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE MUSA opened at $457.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $493.87 and its 200 day moving average is $504.60. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $382.04 and a twelve month high of $561.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 61.60%. Research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 7.93%.

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.