Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Receives $29.23 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.23.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Roth Capital lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 18,060 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the period. Mustard Seed Financial LLC increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 2.9% in the first quarter. Mustard Seed Financial LLC now owns 17,861 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 17,367 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 4.3%

NYSE:MUR opened at $25.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.12. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $18.95 and a 12 month high of $43.02. The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil’s dividend 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.