Point72 Asset Management L.P. Makes New $18.97 Million Investment in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 38,491 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $18,971,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned 0.19% of Murphy USA at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Murphy USA by 6.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $863,116,000 after acquiring an additional 99,253 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 49,501.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,874 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $191,664,000 after purchasing an additional 388,090 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 204,363 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $95,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 1,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter worth about $53,387,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of MUSA stock traded up $1.90 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $539.57. The company had a trading volume of 96,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 143,462. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $350.55 and a 12-month 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 has a market capitalization of $10.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $506.19 and a 200-day moving average of $494.29.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.69 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Murphy USA's payout ratio is 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.