KeyCorp Increases Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $54.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its target price upped by KeyCorp from $50.00 to $54.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MUR. Roth Mkm reiterated a buy rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $50.64.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $46.45 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 2.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.67. 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.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $844.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $852.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total value of $4,442,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,035,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,811,324.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Roger W. Jenkins sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.39, for a total value of $4,442,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,035,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,811,324.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $237,660.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,447.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,260 shares of company stock worth $6,322,644 over the last 90 days. 5.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,816,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $762,637,000 after acquiring an additional 137,059 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Murphy Oil by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,861,968 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $335,397,000 after purchasing an additional 207,547 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,566,887 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $116,408,000 after purchasing an additional 121,795 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,904.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,904 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $89,198,000 after buying an additional 2,038,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,946,095 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $88,255,000 after buying an additional 99,427 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

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.