Fortune Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Fortune Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 416 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,838 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,609,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 7.7% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 69,122 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,976,000 after buying an additional 4,929 shares during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 6.3% during the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,020 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma bought a new position in Murphy USA in the 1st quarter worth about $249,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 1st quarter valued at about $461,000. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $473.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.84. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $350.55 and a 52-week high of $552.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $499.98 and a 200-day moving average of $473.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.86 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The company’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.97 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 8.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total transaction of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MUSA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $495.33.

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.