Benzinga - by Zacks, Benzinga Contributor.
The latest trading session saw Murphy USA (NYSE: MUSA) ending at $412.93, denoting a -0.07% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.95%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.09%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.84%.
The gasoline station operator's shares have seen an increase of 1.32% over the last month, not keeping up with the Oils-Energy sector's gain of 8.7% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.78%.
The upcoming earnings release of Murphy USA will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings report is expected on May 1, 2024. The company is expected to report EPS of $4.22, down 12.08% from the prior-year quarter. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $4.93 billion, indicating a 2.99% decline compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $26.35 per share and revenue of $22 billion. These totals would mark changes of +3.37% and +2.16%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Murphy USA should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.3% higher within the past month. Murphy USA is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.
Digging into valuation, Murphy USA currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 15.68. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 12.21.
The Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 68, finds itself in the top 27% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
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