Black Maple Capital Management LP Invests $787,000 in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Black Maple Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 26,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $787,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 342.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR stock traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $21.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,384,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,154,391. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $18.95 and a fifty-two week high of $45.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $23.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.05. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 8.11 and a beta of 1.10.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. The company's revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is 48.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 target price on Murphy Oil and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Roth Capital set a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial downgraded Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.08.

About Murphy Oil

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.