Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.17.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MUR shares. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $46.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,191.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,627,268 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $54,904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577,831 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 641.7% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 672,717 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $22,697,000 after purchasing an additional 582,020 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 90.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,092,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $45,050,000 after purchasing an additional 518,904 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 92.1% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 687,254 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,342,000 after purchasing an additional 329,521 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,254,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $340,400,000 after purchasing an additional 262,256 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

NYSE:MUR opened at $32.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.59. Murphy Oil has a one year low of $30.99 and a one year high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.58%.

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.