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

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.92.

MUR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR opened at $33.40 on Monday. Murphy Oil has a twelve month low of $30.99 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The firm has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.50.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 9.22%. The business had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 266.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Company 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.