KBC Group NV Raises Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 59.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,835 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 2,559 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lindenwold Advisors INC boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 10,529 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 16.2% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,140 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 8.1% during the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 6,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MUR shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.33.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 3.6 %

MUR stock opened at $26.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $30.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.56. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.26 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.61%.

Murphy Oil Profile

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.