Sanders Morris Harris LLC Buys New Stake in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Sanders Morris Harris LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $660,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the third quarter worth about $905,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Murphy USA by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,902 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,249,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in Murphy USA by 48.6% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 22,443 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,130,000 after buying an additional 7,339 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 72.6% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,005 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,222,000 after buying an additional 1,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.3% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,362 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,774,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.2%

MUSA opened at $409.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $379.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $392.08. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $542.76.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.60 by $0.65. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 69.87%. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MUSA. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $474.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 24,733 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total value of $9,431,434.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 131,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,963,381.92. The trade was a 15.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

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.