Holocene Advisors LP Reduces Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Holocene Advisors LP lessened its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 0.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 591,712 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 5,307 shares during the quarter. Murphy USA makes up about 1.2% of Holocene Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Holocene Advisors LP’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $291,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,312,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $440,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter valued at $406,000. L.M. Kohn & Company increased its stake in Murphy USA by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 853 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the third quarter worth approximately $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $495.33.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $551.05 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $350.55 and a 1 year high of $561.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $501.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $491.57. The stock has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73 and a beta of 0.75.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The business’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 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. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.