Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Short Interest Up 23.7% in May

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,360,000 shares, a growth of 23.7% from the May 15th total of 5,950,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days. Currently, 5.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MUR. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 47.7% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 721 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at $70,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in Murphy Oil by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $38.30 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $36.34 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $43.72 and its 200 day moving average is $42.17. The company has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 2.21.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.03. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 11.75%. The company had revenue of $794.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.94 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 33.43%.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It explores for and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. The company was formerly known as Murphy Corporation and changed its name to Murphy Oil Corporation in 1964.