Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Receives $33.27 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.5455.

MUR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Johnson Rice raised Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to an “accumulate” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Murphy Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $33.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $36.98 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.68 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.55. Murphy Oil has a 1-year low of $20.31 and a 1-year high of $43.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.03. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.09% and a net margin of 3.02%.The business had revenue of $732.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $702.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 237.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,222,049.14. This represents a 56.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 14,700.0% in the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 740 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.