Zacks Research Has Negative View of Murphy USA Q4 Earnings

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research dropped their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for shares of Murphy USA in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, November 20th. Zacks Research analyst N. Choudhury now expects that the specialty retailer will post earnings of $6.65 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $7.30. The consensus estimate for Murphy USA’s current full-year earnings is $23.59 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Murphy USA’s Q2 2025 earnings at $6.95 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $6.98 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $25.79 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $8.71 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $6.74 EPS.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $495.33.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUSA opened at $555.48 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. Murphy USA has a fifty-two week low of $350.55 and a fifty-two week high of $558.65. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $497.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $488.24. The firm has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.92 and a beta of 0.75.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is 7.92%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,206 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $863,116,000 after acquiring an additional 99,253 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 8,507 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 388,090 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 4.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 388,271 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $191,407,000 after buying an additional 16,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $102,797,000 after buying an additional 1,519 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.