Edgestream Partners L.P. Sells 15,120 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Edgestream Partners L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 95.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 641 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 15,120 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 3.8% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,839 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,032,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 144,202 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $67,748,000 after purchasing an additional 2,599 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 91.6% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 21,268 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,992,000 after purchasing an additional 10,169 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 94.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 371,667 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $174,613,000 after purchasing an additional 180,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,315,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $392.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $345.23 and a one year high of $556.86. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $377.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $393.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57 and a beta of 0.39.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.60 by $0.65. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 69.87%. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $7.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MUSA shares. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $474.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 24,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total transaction of $9,431,434.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 131,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,963,381.92. This represents a 15.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

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.