Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.3333.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MUR shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Seaport Research Partners started coverage on Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays downgraded Murphy Oil from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $38.00 to $34.00 in a report on Friday, August 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 14,700.0% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 740 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil during the second quarter worth $54,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 32.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $38.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Murphy Oil has a fifty-two week low of $25.32 and a fifty-two week high of $43.34.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $926.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $888.51 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 6.63% and a net margin of 9.74%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.31%.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Its activities include acquiring acreage, drilling and developing wells, and producing crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids for sale to customers and markets.

The company’s portfolio is primarily focused on onshore assets in the United States, including operations in the Eagle Ford and other U.S. resource plays, as well as offshore production in the Gulf of Mexico. Murphy Oil has also maintained an international exploration and production presence, including projects in Canada and Malaysia, though its asset portfolio has changed over time through acquisitions and divestitures.

Murphy Oil traces its roots to the Murphy family’s business interests and has operated as a publicly traded energy company for decades.