Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Invests $1.31 Million in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,651 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,307,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MUSA. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $191,664,000 after buying an additional 388,090 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the third quarter worth about $53,387,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $863,116,000 after purchasing an additional 99,253 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1,359.6% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 93,326 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $43,813,000 after purchasing an additional 86,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,122,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $495.33.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.2 %

Murphy USA stock traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $547.93. 120,169 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 192,893. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $350.55 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The firm has a market cap of $11.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.57 and a beta of 0.78. 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 50 day moving average price of $509.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $496.69.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.69 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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