Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $0.86, FiscalAI reports. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 69.87%. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Murphy USA Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $443.89 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.38. Murphy USA has a 1 year low of $345.23 and a 1 year high of $523.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $414.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $393.68.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other news, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total transaction of $1,721,675.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,890,325. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 24,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total value of $9,431,434.89. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 131,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,963,381.92. This represents a 15.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $17,349,722. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MUSA. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter worth about $360,000. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter valued at approximately $365,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 976 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new position in Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at about $857,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $467.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday, December 29th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Monday. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $425.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $460.33.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.