Murphy USA (MUSA) Is Strong On High Volume Today
Trade-Ideas LLC identified
(
) as a strong on high relative volume candidate. In addition to specific proprietary factors, Trade-Ideas identified Murphy USA as such a stock due to the following factors:
- MUSA has an average dollar-volume (as measured by average daily share volume multiplied by share price) of $20.4 million.
- MUSA has traded 54,199 shares today.
- MUSA is trading at 3.63 times the normal volume for the stock at this time of day.
- MUSA is trading at a new high 9.03% above yesterday's close.
'Strong on High Relative Volume' stocks are worth watching because major volume moves tend to indicate underlying activity such as M&A events, material stock news, analyst upgrades, insider buying, buying from 'superinvestors,' or that hedge funds and momentum traders are piling into a stock ahead of a catalyst. Regardless of the impetus behind the price and volume action, when a stock moves with strength and volume it can indicate the start of a new trend on which early investors can capitalize. In the event of a well-timed trading opportunity, combining technical indicators with fundamental trends and a disciplined trading methodology should help you take the first steps towards investment success.
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More details on MUSA:
Murphy USA Inc. operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. The company's retail stores offer motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. As of December 31, 2015, it operated 1,335 retail stores located primarily in the Southwest, Southeast, and Midwest United States. MUSA has a PE ratio of 19. Currently there are 5 analysts that rate Murphy USA a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and 1 rates it a hold.
The average volume for Murphy USA has been 426,900 shares per day over the past 30 days. Murphy USA has a market cap of $2.4 billion and is part of the services sector and specialty retail industry. Shares are down 3.9% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Friday.
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Analysis:
rates Murphy USA as a
. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its reasonable valuation levels and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.
Highlights from the ratings report include:
- The debt-to-equity ratio is somewhat low, currently at 0.62, and is less than that of the industry average, implying that there has been a relatively successful effort in the management of debt levels. Despite the fact that MUSA's debt-to-equity ratio is low, the quick ratio, which is currently 0.61, displays a potential problem in covering short-term cash needs.
- MURPHY USA INC has experienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. The company has suffered a declining pattern of earnings per share over the past year. However, we anticipate this trend reversing over the coming year. During the past fiscal year, MURPHY USA INC reported lower earnings of $3.16 versus $4.81 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($4.25 versus $3.16).
- The revenue fell significantly faster than the industry average of 11.1%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues fell by 20.8%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
- After a year of stock price fluctuations, the net result is that MUSA's price has not changed very much. Although its weak earnings growth may have played a role in this flat result, don't lose sight of the fact that the performance of the overall market, as measured by the S&P 500 Index, was essentially similar. Looking ahead, although the push and pull of the overall market trend could certainly make a critical difference, we do not see any strong reason stemming from the company's fundamentals that would cause a continuation of last year's decline. In fact, the stock is now selling for less than others in its industry in relation to its current earnings.
- You can view the full Murphy USA Ratings Report.
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