Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 18,717 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,030,794 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 18,717 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 1.42% of Murphy Oil worth $57,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 67.3% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 39.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,440 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 437.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 3,095 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 5,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, MAI Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 5,723 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $29.83.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR opened at $34.67 on Friday. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $36.08. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.15 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.73%. The company had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 194.44%.

Murphy Oil Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.