Comerica Bank Has $6.39 Million Stock Holdings in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 61.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,830 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 6,007 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $6,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 82.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 423.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 317.6% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, SVP Keith A. Emery sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $382.53, for a total value of $343,894.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 345 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.84, for a total transaction of $139,669.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,503.68. This represents a 49.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,919 shares of company stock worth $4,490,690. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Murphy USA

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results materially beat expectations — reported $7.28 EPS vs. ~$5.37 consensus and revenue of $4.82B vs. ~$4.45B; net income rose year-over-year. This is the primary driver of the rally. Business Wire: Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Fuel and merchandise economics improved — total fuel contribution rose to 35.0 cpg (vs. 25.4 cpg a year earlier); merchandise contribution and unit margins also increased, supporting higher profitability. QuiverQuant: Q1 Analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Management signaled continued capital returns — repurchased ~$70.9M of stock in the quarter and paid a quarterly dividend, which supports shareholder-return narratives. Business Wire: Capital Returns
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and research shops reacted quickly — Zacks moved MUSA to Strong-Buy and research teams raised near-term EPS estimates; some price targets were bumped higher, which likely reinforced buying. Zacks: Analyst Reaction
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call and prepared remarks/transcripts are available for detail — investors can review management commentary on pricing, margins and volume trends. Yahoo: Earnings Transcript Seeking Alpha: Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling activity has been heavy over the past six months (multiple officers selling), which some investors view as a cautionary signal even amid strong results. QuiverQuant: Insider Trades
• Negative Sentiment: Leverage metrics remain elevated (debt-to-equity ~3.5); higher debt increases sensitivity to margin compression or fuel price volatility. (See filings/press release for balance-sheet details.) Business Wire: Q1 Results

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MUSA. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.71.

Murphy USA Stock Up 14.3%

Murphy USA stock opened at $587.93 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. Murphy USA Inc. has a twelve month low of $345.23 and a twelve month high of $591.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $472.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $422.92.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 93.06%. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.63 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Murphy USA Inc. will post 29.55 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.71%.

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.