AXQ Capital LP Purchases Shares of 730 Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 730 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MUSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 94.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 371,667 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $174,613,000 after acquiring an additional 180,055 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Murphy USA by 902.2% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 153,202 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $71,976,000 after purchasing an additional 137,915 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 2,594.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,038 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $66,731,000 after purchasing an additional 136,766 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 2,283.8% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 69,797 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,393,000 after buying an additional 66,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter worth $30,968,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 24,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total value of $9,431,434.89. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 131,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,963,381.92. The trade was a 15.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 10.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on 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. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. One research 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $474.00.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $367.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $377.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $397.67. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12 month low of $345.23 and a 12 month high of $561.08. The firm has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07.

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

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.63%.

About Murphy USA

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.