Zacks Research Equities Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA)

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) – Research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2024 EPS estimates for shares of Murphy USA in a report issued on Thursday, April 25th. Zacks Research analyst N. Choudhury now expects that the specialty retailer will post earnings per share of $4.20 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $4.25. The consensus estimate for Murphy USA’s current full-year earnings is $26.29 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Murphy USA’s Q4 2024 earnings at $7.19 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $7.51 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $6.80 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $6.44 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $25.96 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on MUSA. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $375.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $408.60.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.1 %

MUSA stock opened at $420.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.95. Murphy USA has a one year low of $267.93 and a one year high of $430.83. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $413.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $382.65.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.79 by $1.21. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 70.92%. The company had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.21 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,080,410 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $369,208,000 after acquiring an additional 140,879 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 308,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $105,389,000 after acquiring an additional 72,537 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 35,556.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 269,916 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,241,000 after acquiring an additional 269,159 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $81,560,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Murphy USA by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 194,560 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $69,372,000 after buying an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total value of $275,925.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,002,722.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total value of $275,925.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,002,722.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total transaction of $2,837,410.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,700.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,440 shares of company stock worth $4,244,582. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 6.59%.

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.