Murphy Oil Corp (NYSE: MUR) received a number of price target changes and ratings updates during the last week:

  • Murphy Oil Corp was upgraded by analysts at Brean Murray from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
  • Murphy Oil Corp was downgraded by analysts at Barclays Capital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating. They now have a $70.00 price target on the stock.
  • Murphy Oil Corp was downgraded by analysts at Howard Weil from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating. They now have a $67.00 price target on the stock.
  • Murphy Oil Corp was downgraded by analysts at Societe Generale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. They now have a $65.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $60.00. They wrote, “We are lowering our rating on MUR to Hold, from Buy, on valuation following the recent share price rally. Today, MUR announced the planned spin-off of its U.S. downstream business, a $2.50/sh special dividend (4.2% yield) and $1B buyback (8.7% of market cap). On the conference call MUR stated it hired bankers to examine more potential sales that could include its 5% Syncrude oil sands stake and Montney shale gas assets in Canada. Meantime, MUR is still looking for a buyer for its Milford Haven, Whales refinery and retail locations in the U.K. Management noted the portfolio changes and shareholder returns were a result of consistent feedback from many shareholders. Unsurprisingly, they also said it shouldn’t suggest in any way that they are considering a sale of MUR itself.”
  • Murphy Oil Corp had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Deutsche Bank. They now have a $68.00 price target on the stock.

Murphy Oil Corp traded up 0.81% on Thursday, hitting $63.21. Murphy Oil Corp has a 1-year low of $43.29 and a 1-year high of $65.60. The company has a market cap of $12.279 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88.

Murphy Oil Corporation (Murphy) is an oil and gas exploration and production company with retail and wholesale gasoline marketing operations in the United States and refining and marketing operations in the United Kingdom.