Stevens Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 515 Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 515 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 391 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 580 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $537.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.18 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $505.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $493.63. Murphy USA Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $350.55 and a fifty-two week high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.