CenterBook Partners LP Reduces Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

CenterBook Partners LP reduced its position in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 64.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,804 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 6,890 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $1,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the 3rd quarter worth $752,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter valued at about $147,000. Texas Yale Capital Corp. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 23.2% during the third quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 5,931 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 5.4% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 6,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,418,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 1.4% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 144,741 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $56,197,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy USA Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE MUSA opened at $389.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.80. Murphy USA Inc. has a one year low of $345.23 and a one year high of $523.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $413.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $392.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $4.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.96 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MUSA. 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 report on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, January 9th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $457.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.09, for a total transaction of $470,643.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 5,927 shares in the company, valued at $2,288,355.43. The trade was a 17.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 345 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.84, for a total value of $139,669.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 352 shares in the company, valued at $142,503.68. This represents a 49.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,935 shares of company stock valued at $4,248,945. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

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.