Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The specialty retailer reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.97), Briefing.com reports. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 70.92%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Murphy USA Trading Down 4.1 %

MUSA traded down $16.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $394.98. The stock had a trading volume of 480,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 212,165. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $415.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $384.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 0.77. Murphy USA has a 1-year low of $268.69 and a 1-year high of $430.83.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $375.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $408.60.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total transaction of $275,925.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,002,722.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Murphy USA news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,002,722.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 1,235 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $407.96, for a total transaction of $503,830.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,797,249.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,440 shares of company stock valued at $4,244,582 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

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.