Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $42.91 and last traded at $41.8060, with a volume of 1838073 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MUR shares. Johnson Rice upgraded Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to an “accumulate” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays raised Murphy Oil from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.36.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 4.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.99 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $650.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 194.44%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In related news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the company’s 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 $1,222,049.14. This represents a 56.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 6.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 72.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 3,095 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Company 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.