Argent Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Argent Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 92,774 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 552 shares during the quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC owned about 0.45% of Murphy USA worth $45,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1,091.4% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 14,464 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,063,000 after purchasing an additional 13,250 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 21.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 16,673 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,991,000 after buying an additional 2,911 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 10.3% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 24.3% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,617 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 62.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,455 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after acquiring an additional 1,717 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $464.57.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MUSA traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $473.14. 18,337 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 198,477. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $350.55 and a fifty-two week high of $552.30. The company has a market capitalization of $9.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.87 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $501.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $472.48.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the transaction, the director now owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666. 9.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.