Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Receives $29.31 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.31.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 price target on Murphy Oil and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,576 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 227,680 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,890,000 after buying an additional 34,620 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $56,214,000 after acquiring an additional 13,263 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at $618,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter worth $678,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $20.97 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.79 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.45. Murphy Oil has a one year low of $18.95 and a one year high of $43.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. Murphy Oil’s revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

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.