Earnest Partners LLC Sells 15,691 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Earnest Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,721,718 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 15,691 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned 1.78% of Murphy Oil worth $112,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MUR. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 47.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 721 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in Murphy Oil by 27.0% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $34.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $33.15 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $37.23 and its 200-day moving average is $41.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.32%. The firm had revenue of $802.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MUR shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It explores for and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. The company was formerly known as Murphy Corporation and changed its name to Murphy Oil Corporation in 1964.