West Coast Financial LLC Reduces Position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

West Coast Financial LLC reduced its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,342 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 130 shares during the quarter. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 5.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 391 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 1,394 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 7.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 3.7% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 1,089 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MUSA. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $509.40.

Murphy USA Price Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $479.71 on Thursday. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $350.55 and a one year high of $561.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $522.52 and a 200 day moving average of $505.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $9.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79 and a beta of 0.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.51 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.92%.

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.