Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 11,773,813 shares, a drop of 16.9% from the February 26th total of 14,160,802 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,177,971 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 8.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total transaction of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,222,049.14. The trade was a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 67.3% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 72.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 437.8% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 3,095 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock traded down $0.61 on Tuesday, hitting $41.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,581,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,317,568. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.77. Murphy Oil has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $42.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.61. The company has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.20 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 194.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on MUR shares. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Scotiabank raised Murphy Oil to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler upgraded Murphy Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $33.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.36.

About Murphy Oil

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.