Encompass Capital Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Key Points

• Encompass Capital Advisors acquired 90,000 Murphy USA shares worth approximately $44.5 million, making the retailer its 18th-largest holding; institutional investors collectively own 80.81% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish, with six Buy ratings and five Holds and a consensus price target of $585.11. Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy with a $625 target, while Zacks downgraded it to Hold.
• Murphy USA reported quarterly EPS of $7.28, exceeding estimates by $1.91, while revenue rose 6.5% year over year to $4.82 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.64, or $2.56 annually.

Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 90,000 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $44,457,000. Murphy USA makes up approximately 1.3% of Encompass Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC owned about 0.49% of Murphy USA at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in Murphy USA by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,897 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $6,371,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the period. SummitTX Capital L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at $1,955,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at about $4,073,000. Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at about $5,320,000. Finally, RIHO Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 5.6% in the first quarter. RIHO Partners LLC now owns 54,746 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $27,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,919 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total value of $94,879.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $285,838. This represents a 24.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 53,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MUSA shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Murphy USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Murphy USA from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $585.11.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $609.16 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $567.41 and its 200-day moving average is $500.86. The company has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. Murphy USA Inc. has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.63 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio is 8.85%.

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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