Centiva Capital LP Buys Shares of 4,691 Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,691 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,312,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Murphy USA by 777.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 942.9% during the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 146 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 82.1% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $542.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $502.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $492.29. Murphy USA Inc. has a 1 year low of $350.55 and a 1 year high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 62.73%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy USA Inc. will post 23.59 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MUSA. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $495.33.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA Inc engages in marketing of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The company operates retail stores under the Murphy USA, Murphy Express, and QuickChek brands, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.