De Lisle Partners LLP Has $17.43 Million Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

De Lisle Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,406 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the quarter. Murphy USA makes up 2.8% of De Lisle Partners LLP's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. De Lisle Partners LLP owned 0.17% of Murphy USA worth $17,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $863,116,000 after acquiring an additional 99,253 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 388,090 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 204,363 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $95,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 141,637 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $66,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,387,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MUSA stock traded down $2.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $553.39. 126,837 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 195,639. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $350.55 and a 12-month high of $561.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The company's 50-day moving average price is $499.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $489.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This is a boost from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. 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.