CenterBook Partners LP Purchases 5,525 Shares of Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Key Points

• CenterBook Partners LP boosted its Murphy USA stake by 145.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 5,525 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 9,329 shares worth about $3.76 million.
• Murphy USA reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $7.28 beating estimates by $1.91 and revenue of $4.82 billion topping expectations; revenue also rose 6.5% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.64 per share from $0.63, while analysts currently have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target price of $503.71.

CenterBook Partners LP lifted its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) by 145.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,329 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 5,525 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP owned about 0.05% of Murphy USA worth $3,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Enhancing Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Enhancing Capital LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $707,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 82.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% in the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 5.6% in the third quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 568 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $547.31 on Tuesday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $345.23 and a 12-month high of $609.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The firm's 50 day moving average is $531.54 and its 200 day moving average is $455.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.63 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 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 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a boost from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA's payout ratio is 8.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total value of $24,773,840.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 342,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,286,875.52. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at $1,632,263.52. The trade was a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 43,225 shares of company stock valued at $25,721,642 over the last three months. Insiders own 9.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Murphy USA from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $550.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Murphy USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.71.

Murphy USA Profile

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company's primary operations center on two retail formats.

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