ClearBridge Investments’ Major Positive Contributor: Murphy USA (MUSA)

ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, published its “ClearBridge Small Cap Value Strategy” second quarter 2022 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, the strategy outperformed the Russell 2000 Value Index benchmark. Consumer staples and utility sectors contributed positively to the fund’s performance while the financials and industrial sectors were the main performance detractors. On an absolute basis, the fund faced losses in all the 11 sectors it invested in. You can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2022.

In the letter, ClearBridge Investments discussed stocks like Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA). Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) is a US-based retail gas retailer. It has a market capitalization of $6.993 billion. On August 19, 2022 Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) stock closed at $299.48 per share. One-month return of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) was 10.56%, and its shares gained 93.95% of their value over the last 52 weeks.

Here’s how ClearBridge Investments mentioned Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in the Q2, 2022 investor letter:

“Despite broad challenges to the sector’s overall performance, our stock selection within the consumer discretionary sector proved beneficial during the quarter. Specifically, positive performance was largely driven by our holding Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA), which operates a chain of retail gas stations across the U.S. offering retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. Murphy USA’s share price rose after beating market expectations for the first quarter, as the company’s strong cost discipline and exceptionally low fuel breakeven points relative to its peers have allowed it to earn higher margins from spiking gas prices.

Additionally, the company has a strong consumer loyalty program that has driven increased market share for Murphy in snack foods and other in-store categories. We have high conviction in the company and believe it will continue to be a long-term growth compounder for the portfolio.”

Although ClearBridge Investments invested in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA), it is not on the list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. At the end of the first quarter, Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) was held by 26 hedge funds compared to 26 in the previous quarter.

We discussed Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in another article and shared the list of soaring stocks. You can check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2022 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other prominent investors.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.