Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $14.56 Million Stock Position in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 186.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,785 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 23,314 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.19% of Murphy USA worth $14,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter worth approximately $308,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Murphy USA during the second quarter worth $70,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter valued at $82,000. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter valued at $365,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter worth $67,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE MUSA opened at $408.73 on Wednesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $553.40. The company has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $378.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $391.96. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $5.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.20 EPS. Murphy USA’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 10.63%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In related news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 24,733 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total transaction of $9,431,434.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 131,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,963,381.92. This trade represents a 15.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 10.12% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.