International Assets Investment Management LLC Sells 388,085 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 99.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 789 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 388,085 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Murphy USA were worth $390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Stifel Financial Corp grew 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 during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted 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 last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at about $1,573,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Murphy USA by 69.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 622.9% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,048 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,995,000 after buying an additional 3,488 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MUSA. StockNews.com raised Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Murphy USA from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $509.40.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of MUSA stock traded down $3.68 on Friday, hitting $489.68. 174,468 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 158,145. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $350.55 and a one year 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $523.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $504.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.48 dividend. This is a positive change 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 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.92%.

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.