Comparing Murphy USA (MUSA) & Its Peers

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) is one of 285 public companies in the “Specialty Retail” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Murphy USA to similar companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Murphy USA and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Murphy USA	0	5	6	0	2.55
Murphy USA Competitors	3667	15581	21610	590	2.46

Murphy USA presently has a consensus price target of $606.33, indicating a potential upside of 17.71%. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies have a potential upside of 6.87%. Given Murphy USA’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Murphy USA is more favorable than its peers.

Dividends

Murphy USA pays an annual dividend of $2.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Murphy USA pays out 8.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.1% and pay out 35.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Murphy USA has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

80.8% of Murphy USA shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.6% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are owned by institutional investors. 9.0% of Murphy USA shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 20.5% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Murphy USA and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Murphy USA	2.85%	92.81%	13.36%
Murphy USA Competitors	-3.69%	-14.02%	3.17%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Murphy USA and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Murphy USA	$23.26 billion	$470.60 million	14.44
Murphy USA Competitors	$7.24 billion	$386.47 million	33.12

Murphy USA has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. Murphy USA is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Volatility and Risk

Murphy USA has a beta of 0.31, indicating that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Murphy USA’s peers have a beta of 1.91, indicating that their average share price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Murphy USA beats its peers on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

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. Murphy USA Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas.