FY2024 EPS Estimates for Murphy USA Cut by Zacks Research

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research decreased their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Murphy USA in a report released on Wednesday, November 20th. Zacks Research analyst N. Choudhury now anticipates that the specialty retailer will post earnings per share of $23.89 for the year, down from their previous estimate of $23.97. The consensus estimate for Murphy USA’s current full-year earnings is $23.61 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Murphy USA’s Q1 2025 earnings at $4.95 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $6.91 EPS and Q2 2026 earnings at $5.48 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also commented on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com cut Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $495.33.

Murphy USA Stock Up 2.6 %

MUSA stock opened at $545.10 on Friday. Murphy USA has a twelve month low of $350.55 and a twelve month high of $552.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $497.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $485.24.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.69 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $863,116,000 after purchasing an additional 99,253 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $291,068,000 after acquiring an additional 8,507 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 49,501.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,664,000 after acquiring an additional 388,090 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 4.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 388,271 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,407,000 after acquiring an additional 16,006 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 0.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $102,797,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. This represents a 11.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

About Murphy USA

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.