Quest Partners LLC Purchases New Shares in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,244 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,599,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Murphy USA by 90.4% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,685 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $10,195,000 after purchasing an additional 9,822 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Murphy USA by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 476 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $433,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,294 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,609,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bancreek Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bancreek Capital Management LP now owns 16,617 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $8,190,000 after purchasing an additional 4,077 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. The trade was a 11.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.73% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.6 %

MUSA stock traded up $3.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $524.30. The company had a trading volume of 143,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 196,756. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $10.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.59 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $497.14 and a 200 day moving average of $482.83. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $350.55 and a 12 month high of $552.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.69 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.