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Murphy USA (MUSA) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Murphy USA (MUSA - Free Report) closed at $200.43, marking a -1.23% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.63%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.19%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.34%.

Heading into today, shares of the gasoline station operator had gained 12.97% over the past month, outpacing the Oils-Energy sector's gain of 8.16% and the S&P 500's gain of 6.02% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Murphy USA as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect Murphy USA to post earnings of $2.30 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 14.43%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $4.44 billion, up 25.49% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $11.42 per share and revenue of $19.14 billion, which would represent changes of -23.46% and +10.26%, respectively, from the prior 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.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.66% higher within the past month. Murphy USA is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Looking at its valuation, Murphy USA is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 17.77. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 17.74, so we one might conclude that Murphy USA is trading at a premium comparatively.

The Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 64, putting it in the top 26% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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