Sanders Morris Harris LLC Purchases New Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Sanders Morris Harris LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 1,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $660,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 423.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 1,925.0% in the second quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 81 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the first quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, WD Rutherford LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $409.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $379.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $392.08. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $345.23 and a 1 year high of $542.76.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.60 by $0.65. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 69.87% and a net margin of 2.43%.The business had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.20 EPS. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 16,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total transaction of $6,196,612.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,172 shares in the company, valued at $22,564,058.76. This trade represents a 21.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.