Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Acquired by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,127 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 2,574 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Murphy USA worth $6,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 16,673 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $6,991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,911 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 10.3% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,461 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $5,646,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 24.3% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,617 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 35,240 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $17,369,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 62.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,455 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of MUSA traded down $1.24 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $527.97. 102,972 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 197,463. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $350.55 and a fifty-two week high of $552.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $496.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $480.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. The business 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA's payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 9.04% of the company's stock.

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.