Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.17.

Several research firms have issued reports on MUR. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% during 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 period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 106.5% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR opened at $31.46 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 2.20. Murphy Oil has a 1-year low of $31.12 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $34.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $802.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.32%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.58%.

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.