WINTON GROUP Ltd Acquires Shares of 17,036 Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Key Points

• WINTON GROUP Ltd opened a new position in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter, buying 17,036 shares worth about $6.87 million and ending with roughly 0.09% ownership.
• Murphy USA’s latest quarter beat expectations, posting EPS of $7.28 versus $5.37 expected and revenue of $4.82 billion versus $4.70 billion estimated, with revenue up 6.5% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.64 per share, while analysts remain generally positive with an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $503.71.

WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 17,036 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $6,874,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd owned about 0.09% of Murphy USA at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MUSA. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 318.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 424,818 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $164,940,000 after purchasing an additional 323,331 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 676.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 170,215 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $69,243,000 after purchasing an additional 148,301 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,726,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1,723.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 132,450 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $53,446,000 after purchasing an additional 125,185 shares during the period. Finally, Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 4,972.5% in the third quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 100,942 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $39,192,000 after purchasing an additional 98,952 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 41,500 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.96, for a total transaction of $24,773,840.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 342,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,286,875.52. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 517 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.49, for a total transaction of $297,011.33. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,245. This trade represents a 50.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 43,225 shares of company stock valued at $25,721,642. Company insiders own 9.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUSA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.71.

Murphy USA Stock Up 1.1%

Murphy USA stock opened at $545.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.30. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $530.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $453.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $609.82.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. Murphy USA's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 32.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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