Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Lowers Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,555 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 197 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Murphy USA were worth $2,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 777.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 141.4% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the first quarter worth approximately $69,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 82.1% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $464.57.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.7 %

Murphy USA stock opened at $496.39 on Wednesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $339.96 and a 1 year high of $552.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $509.42 and its 200-day moving average is $464.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.78 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.02 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 24.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666. 9.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.