Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA Shares Sold by CenterBook Partners LP

CenterBook Partners LP lessened its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 64.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,804 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 6,890 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 2.7% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,282 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 0.3% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,902 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,249,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 9.3% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 472 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 5.1% in the third quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Stock Down 1.6%

Murphy USA stock opened at $389.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.38. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $523.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $413.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $392.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $0.86. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 75.75%. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.96 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 10.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Malynda K. West sold 3,967 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $1,785,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,825,050. The trade was a 3.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.84, for a total transaction of $139,669.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,503.68. This represents a 49.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 9,935 shares of company stock valued at $4,248,945 over the last 90 days. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MUSA. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. KeyCorp set a $500.00 target price on Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, January 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $457.50.

About Murphy USA

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.