Evercore ISI Lowers Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $22.00

Key Points

• Evercore ISI has lowered its price target for Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $22.00, indicating a potential downside of 29.53% from the current stock price.
• Multiple analysts have recently revised their ratings for Murphy Oil, with one maintaining a "Buy" rating, while the majority have assigned "Hold" or "Sell" ratings, resulting in an average consensus target price of $28.15.
• Institutional investors hold a significant portion of Murphy Oil, owning 78.31% of the company's stock, with some firms increasing their stakes by substantial percentages during the recent quarter.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "in-line" rating on the oil and gas producer's stock. Evercore ISI's price target suggests a potential downside of 29.53% from the stock's current price.

MUR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Murphy Oil from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $28.15.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $31.22 on Monday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $25.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Murphy Oil has a 52-week low of $18.94 and a 52-week high of $36.62. The company has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 1.03.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $695.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $632.51 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 10.20% and a return on equity of 5.25%. Murphy Oil's revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 210.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,610,766 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $159,346,000 after buying an additional 3,805,565 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 72.9% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 4,812,267 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $136,668,000 after buying an additional 2,029,685 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 8,530.7% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,763,345 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $50,079,000 after buying an additional 1,742,914 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 111.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,157,707 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $61,279,000 after buying an additional 1,137,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 44.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,068,290 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $69,037,000 after buying an additional 950,630 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

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.

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