Analysts Set Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Target Price at $48.23

Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.38.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MUR shares. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Murphy Oil stock opened at $45.95 on Friday. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $32.80 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a PE ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 2.21.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.10). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 19.12%. The business had revenue of $844.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $852.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total transaction of $433,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 40,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,759,576.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644 in the last 90 days. 5.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in Murphy Oil by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 22,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,527 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 9,048 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. Finally, Wetherby Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,436 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

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.