Stock Market

Murphy USA: A Volatile Specialty Retailer with Promising Earnings Returns and Dividend Yields


As of Friday, April 29th, shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $275.38. This specialty retailer boasts a sizeable market cap of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 0.80. With its 50-day moving average price currently sitting at $259.66 and its 200-day moving average price hovering around $274.14, this company has seen significant fluctuations in its stock value over the past year.

Throughout the last fifty-two weeks, Murphy USA’s stocks have ranged from a low of $217.39 to a high of $323.00 – an indication of the volatility inherent in this industry. As we move further into 2023, Murphy USA’s quick ratio sits at just 0.48 with a current ratio of 0.85 and with an above-average debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80.

Despite these factors, StockNews.com has started coverage on this company with a “buy” rating assigned to its stock. Additionally, Raymond James still considers Murphy USA as an “outperform” rated stock while Wells Fargo & Company rates it as “overweight”. One research analyst remains hesitant about the companies projections and rated the stock as only “sell”.

These ratings are compiled by Bloomberg which gives MUSA a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”. The consensus price target for MUSA is projected to be just over $314 USD per share.

Looking towards shareholder value and involvement in selecting equities offerings; investors can take solace that Murphy USA continues to provide consistent dividends that have increased earnings returns during Q1-2023 with quarterly dividend yields yielding at around $.37 which was paid out on Wednesday March 1st to shareholders who were listed on record as having been shareholders since Tuesday February’s close.

Interestingly however, despite increased earnings returns during Q1-2023 predictions based upon they decided to reduce their previous quarterly dividend from $0.35 to 0.037 – a move that still benefits investors with an annualized dividend of $1.48 which boasts a yield of 0.54%.

On Wednesday, February 1st, Murphy USA announced its quarterly earnings data and missed the consensus estimate with reports of $5.21 earnings per share as opposed to the estimated $6.16 per share earning projections by ($0.95). Despite missing analyst estimates, MUSA remains profitable with high net margins sitting at 2.87%. Moreover, the company had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion and posted year-over-year growth in the vicinity of 12.6%.

In summary, though Murphy USA has experienced fluctuating stock values over the past year and some analysts are hesitant about future growth prospects; there remains promise in this specialty retailing sector based on increased revenues posted during Q1-2023 as well as reducing payouts back to investors within steady yearly yielded returns at near half a percent yearly gain thus far.

As always when investing in stocks trading on exchanges such as NYSE must be undertaken with ample research conducted into both quantitative and qualitative information amalgamated through various sources of financial news industry publications and regular updates on market indexes across many geographies coverings all current listings daily-hourly basis where possible

Murphy USA Inc. Receives Positive Outlook for Second Quarter of 2023 Earnings from Zacks Research


Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) has recently received a positive outlook for its second quarter of 2023 earnings from Zacks Research, with the specialty retailer possibly posting earnings per share of $4.49, up from their previous estimate of $4.47. The consensus estimate for Murphy USA’s full-year earnings is currently $18.39 per share, and Zacks Research has also issued earnings estimates for the company’s upcoming quarters and years.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have shown interest in Murphy USA’s stock as well. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased their holdings in the company by 28.1% during the third quarter, while PNC Financial Services Group Inc., Zacks Investment Management, First Republic Investment Management Inc., and Schechter Investment Advisors LLC all increased their positions in the company to varying degrees.

This positive news indicates that Murphy USA has been performing well and may continue to do so in the coming quarters and years. Investors who have already invested or are considering doing so should take note of these developments.

It is important to keep in mind that investing always carries a degree of risk, however – even when a company appears to be doing well. Investors should conduct diligent research on any companies they are considering investing in before making any decisions regarding their investments.

Overall, though, these latest developments shine a strong light on Murphy USA and suggest that the specialty retailer is certainly one to watch moving forward.



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