Q3 Earnings Forecast for Murphy USA Issued By Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks raised its Q3 2027 EPS estimate to $6.90 (from $6.84) and gave Murphy USA a Strong-Buy rating, while several brokers have raised price targets (KeyCorp $600) and the consensus target sits near $493.71.
• Murphy USA posted a material Q1 beat — $7.28 EPS vs. ~$5.37 expected and $4.82B revenue — driven by stronger fuel contribution and improved merchandise margins, and returned capital via ~169k share repurchases (~$70.9M) plus a $0.63 quarterly dividend.
• Potential headwinds include a high leverage profile (debt-to-equity ~3.47) and recent insider selling, and the dividend yield remains modest (~0.4%), which could limit resilience if fuel/macro trends weaken.

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q3 2027 earnings per share estimates for Murphy USA in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 28th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the specialty retailer will earn $6.90 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $6.84. Zacks Research has a "Strong-Buy" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Murphy USA's current full-year earnings is $29.55 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Murphy USA's Q1 2028 earnings at $6.22 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $539.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Murphy USA from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $493.71.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $587.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $472.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $422.92. Murphy USA has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $591.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 93.06% and a net margin of 2.81%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.63 EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Equitable Trust Co. acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 1st quarter valued at $240,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 1st quarter worth $338,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 826 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 7.2% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 8,045 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,083,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 12.9% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 15,843 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $8,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, CEO Malynda K. West sold 3,967 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $1,785,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at $52,825,050. The trade was a 3.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,155 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $395.19, for a total transaction of $456,444.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $609,778.17. This represents a 42.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 10,919 shares of company stock valued at $4,490,690 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 9.02% of the company's stock.

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Murphy USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.71%.

Murphy USA News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Murphy USA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 financial beat — Murphy USA reported Q1 net income of $136.3M, $7.28 diluted EPS vs. consensus ~$5.37, and revenue of $4.82B (above estimates). The results materially exceeded Street expectations and are the primary driver of the share move. Business Wire Q1 Release
• Positive Sentiment: Improved fuel and in-store economics — Total fuel contribution rose to 35.0 cents per gallon (from 25.4 cpg a year ago) with retail gallons up, while merchandise contribution and unit margins improved, supporting higher profitability per transaction. QuiverQuant Analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Share repurchases and dividend — Management repurchased ~169k shares for ~$70.9M in the quarter and paid the $0.63 quarterly dividend, signaling continued cash return to shareholders. Business Wire Q1 Release
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and estimate lifts — Zacks upgraded MUSA to a strong-buy and raised near-term EPS forecasts; some brokers (KeyCorp, others) have maintained or lifted targets (KeyCorp $600), lending support to sentiment. Zacks Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call / transcripts available — Management prepared remarks and the full earnings call transcript were posted (useful for listeners assessing cadence on margins, fuel outlook and capital allocation, but not new by themselves). Earnings Transcript (Yahoo) Earnings Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — Multiple executive-level sales were reported over recent months (no insider buys reported in same period), which some investors view as a cautionary signal on conviction. QuiverQuant Insider Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Balance-sheet/leverage considerations — The company shows relatively high debt-to-equity (background metrics), which could limit flexibility if fuel/macro conditions reverse; monitor leverage and cash flow conversion over coming quarters.

About Murphy USA

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company's primary operations center on two retail formats.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.