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Murphy USA (MUSA) Shares Move Up Post Easy Q3 Earnings Beat
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The stock of motor fuel retailer Murphy USA Inc. (MUSA - Free Report) has gained 2.9% since its third-quarter earnings announcement on Oct 27. The company managed to score top and bottom-line beats.
What Did Murphy USA’s Earnings Unveil?
Murphy USA announced third-quarter 2021 earnings per share of $3.98, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.59 and came in higher the year-earlier bottom line of $2.27. The outperformance could be attributed to a rise in the retail gasoline price, contribution from the QuickChek acquisition and a higher retail margin of 26.6 cents per gallon that was up 19.3% year over year.
Meanwhile, Murphy USA’s operating revenues of $4.6 billion soared 62% year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $124 million due to improved petroleum product sales.
Revenues from petroleum product sales came in at $3.6 billion, up 73.8% from the third quarter of 2020 and 3.1% above the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Merchandise sales, at $953.4 million, rose 26% year over year and outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $946 million.
Sharing more good news with investors, the downstream operator raised its quarterly dividend by 16% to 29 cents per share (or $1.16 per share annualized), to be paid out on Dec 1 to shareholders of record as of Nov 8.
The company’s total fuel contribution rose 33.3% year over year to $292.9 million due to margin expansion and higher volumes. Total fuel contribution (including retail fuel margin plus product supply and wholesale results) came in at 26.6 cents per gallon, which improved 19.3% from the third quarter of 2020.
Retail fuel contribution was up 40.9% year over year to $264.4 million as margins widened to 24 cents per gallon from 19 cents in the corresponding period of 2020. Retail gallons rose 11.4% from the year-ago period to 1,100.2 million in the quarter under review but missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.6%. Volumes on an SSS basis (or fuel gallons per month) improved 3.3% from the third quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, the average retail gasoline price during the quarter was $2.89 per gallon, surging from $1.90 per gallon a year ago.
Contribution from Merchandise increased 58.6% to $187.3 million on higher sales and better unit margins, which, at 19.6%, moved up from the year-ago period’s 15.6%. On an SSS basis, total merchandise contribution was up 4% year over year on the back of 5.7% higher tobacco margins. Meanwhile, merchandise sales edged down 0.3% on an SSS basis due to a decrease of 0.3% and 0.2% in tobacco and non-tobacco sales, respectively.
Fuel gallons were up 3.4% from the prior-year period while merchandise sales increased 12.3% on an average per store month basis.
Balance Sheet
As of Sep 30, Murphy USA — which opened seven new retail locations in the quarter to take its store count to 1,669 — had cash and cash equivalents of $301.3 million, and long-term debt (including lease obligations) of $1.8 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 68.6%.
During the quarter, the company bought back shares worth $33.2 million.
Zacks Rank & Stock Picks
Murphy USA carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked players in the energy space are Ovintiv (OVV - Free Report) , EOG Resources (EOG - Free Report) and Suncor Energy (SU - Free Report) . All the companies sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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Murphy USA (MUSA) Shares Move Up Post Easy Q3 Earnings Beat
The stock of motor fuel retailer Murphy USA Inc. (MUSA - Free Report) has gained 2.9% since its third-quarter earnings announcement on Oct 27. The company managed to score top and bottom-line beats.
What Did Murphy USA’s Earnings Unveil?
Murphy USA announced third-quarter 2021 earnings per share of $3.98, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.59 and came in higher the year-earlier bottom line of $2.27. The outperformance could be attributed to a rise in the retail gasoline price, contribution from the QuickChek acquisition and a higher retail margin of 26.6 cents per gallon that was up 19.3% year over year.
Meanwhile, Murphy USA’s operating revenues of $4.6 billion soared 62% year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $124 million due to improved petroleum product sales.
Revenues from petroleum product sales came in at $3.6 billion, up 73.8% from the third quarter of 2020 and 3.1% above the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Merchandise sales, at $953.4 million, rose 26% year over year and outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $946 million.
Sharing more good news with investors, the downstream operator raised its quarterly dividend by 16% to 29 cents per share (or $1.16 per share annualized), to be paid out on Dec 1 to shareholders of record as of Nov 8.
Murphy USA Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Murphy USA Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Murphy USA Inc. Quote
Key Takeaways
The company’s total fuel contribution rose 33.3% year over year to $292.9 million due to margin expansion and higher volumes. Total fuel contribution (including retail fuel margin plus product supply and wholesale results) came in at 26.6 cents per gallon, which improved 19.3% from the third quarter of 2020.
Retail fuel contribution was up 40.9% year over year to $264.4 million as margins widened to 24 cents per gallon from 19 cents in the corresponding period of 2020. Retail gallons rose 11.4% from the year-ago period to 1,100.2 million in the quarter under review but missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.6%. Volumes on an SSS basis (or fuel gallons per month) improved 3.3% from the third quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, the average retail gasoline price during the quarter was $2.89 per gallon, surging from $1.90 per gallon a year ago.
Contribution from Merchandise increased 58.6% to $187.3 million on higher sales and better unit margins, which, at 19.6%, moved up from the year-ago period’s 15.6%. On an SSS basis, total merchandise contribution was up 4% year over year on the back of 5.7% higher tobacco margins. Meanwhile, merchandise sales edged down 0.3% on an SSS basis due to a decrease of 0.3% and 0.2% in tobacco and non-tobacco sales, respectively.
Fuel gallons were up 3.4% from the prior-year period while merchandise sales increased 12.3% on an average per store month basis.
Balance Sheet
As of Sep 30, Murphy USA — which opened seven new retail locations in the quarter to take its store count to 1,669 — had cash and cash equivalents of $301.3 million, and long-term debt (including lease obligations) of $1.8 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 68.6%.
During the quarter, the company bought back shares worth $33.2 million.
Zacks Rank & Stock Picks
Murphy USA carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked players in the energy space are Ovintiv (OVV - Free Report) , EOG Resources (EOG - Free Report) and Suncor Energy (SU - Free Report) . All the companies sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Ovintiv has an expected earnings growth rate of 1,471.4% for the current year.
EOG Resources has an expected earnings growth rate of 479.5% for the current year.
Suncor Energy has an expected earnings growth rate of 318.2% for the current year.