Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.97 EPS

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The specialty retailer reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.97), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.45% and a net margin of 2.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.80 EPS.

Murphy USA Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $392.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. Murphy USA has a 12-month low of $268.69 and a 12-month high of $430.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $414.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $384.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,607,700.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,002,722.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,440 shares of company stock worth $4,244,582. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MUSA shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, April 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $408.60.

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.