West Coast Financial LLC Sells 130 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

West Coast Financial LLC trimmed its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,342 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 130 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Murphy USA by 16.3% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 930 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $437,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 10.9% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,621 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,169,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 14.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,011 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $45,543,000 after purchasing an additional 12,336 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 11.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $862,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waterloo Capital L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at $484,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MUSA shares. StockNews.com downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $509.40.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $479.71 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $522.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $505.20. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $350.55 and a 52-week high of $561.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.69 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. 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. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.92%.

Murphy USA 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.