Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 142,785 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 2,201 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.71% of Murphy USA worth $70,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MUSA. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 28.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,546 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 10.8% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,952 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,229,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 777.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 141.4% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 6.5% during the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MUSA traded down $0.50 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $540.66. The stock had a trading volume of 143,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 194,611. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $504.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $493.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The stock has a market cap of $10.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30 and a beta of 0.78. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $350.55 and a fifty-two week high of $561.08.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is 7.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MUSA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Murphy USA from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $495.33.

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.