Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 2,300 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA – Get Rating) by 1.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 236,200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,300 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $64,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 47.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Paragon Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors own 85.30% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Trading Down 3.5 %

Murphy USA stock opened at $244.33 on Tuesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.09 and a 52 week high of $323.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $263.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $279.51.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The specialty retailer reported $5.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.16 by ($0.95). The business had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 90.90% and a net margin of 2.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.23 EPS. Analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 18.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 17th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Murphy USA from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Murphy USA from $350.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.60.

About Murphy USA

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Murphy USA, Inc engages in marketing motor fuel products and convenience merchandise through retail stores, namely Murphy USA and Murphy Express. It collaborates with Walmart to offer customers discounted and free items based on purchases of qualifying fuel and merchandise. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in El Dorado, AR.