Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 160 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,606 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $3,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MUSA. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,662 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,566,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Murphy USA by 56.5% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 917 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Murphy USA by 1.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 38,705 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $18,171,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 25.6% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.33.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:MUSA opened at $550.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73 and a beta of 0.78. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $511.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $498.14. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $350.55 and a 52-week high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.69 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 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.