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Murphy USA (MUSA) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Murphy USA (MUSA - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $219.95, moving -1.29% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.22%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.13%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.22%.

Coming into today, shares of the gasoline station operator had lost 7.6% in the past month. In that same time, the Oils-Energy sector lost 10.31%, while the S&P 500 lost 10.02%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Murphy USA as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Murphy USA to post earnings of $4.65 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 2.92%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $6.09 billion, up 36.71% from the year-ago period.

MUSA's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $17.54 per share and revenue of $22.52 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +17.56% and +29.69%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Murphy USA. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 4.33% higher within the past month. Murphy USA currently has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Murphy USA has a Forward P/E ratio of 12.54 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 8.8, which means Murphy USA is trading at a premium to the group.

The Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 10, which puts it in the top 4% 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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