Edgestream Partners L.P. Raises Stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 94.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,761 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 7,669 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned approximately 0.08% of Murphy USA worth $7,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MUSA. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 53,469.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 553,906 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $260,231,000 after buying an additional 552,872 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth $112,741,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the 4th quarter worth $53,777,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,864,405 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $935,465,000 after buying an additional 54,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 363.2% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 54,471 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $27,331,000 after buying an additional 42,712 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MUSA. Raymond James Financial cut Murphy USA from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $525.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $526.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, Director David C. Haley purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $435.58 per share, for a total transaction of $435,580.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,580. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.9%

MUSA traded up $3.72 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $421.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 212,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 231,396. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.74. The firm has a market cap of $8.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $424.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $461.51. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $385.44 and a 52-week high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty retailer reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.87 by ($1.24). The business had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.79 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.46% and a return on equity of 61.19%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.12 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Murphy USA's payout ratio is 8.44%.

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.