AIA Group Ltd Makes New $383,000 Investment in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd has acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil Corporation, purchasing 13,498 shares valued at approximately $383,000 during the 1st quarter.
• Murphy Oil has recently received mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.46.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.325 per share, representing a 5.6% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 67.36%.

AIA Group Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 13,498 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $383,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,576 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 146.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 14.2% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 214,258 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $6,085,000 after acquiring an additional 26,563 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 7,070.1% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 113,144 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,210,000 after acquiring an additional 111,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 350.0% during the first quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 450,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $12,780,000 after acquiring an additional 350,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. Mizuho downgraded Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on Murphy Oil from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Johnson Rice downgraded Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.69.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock traded down $0.25 on Friday, hitting $22.97. 1,897,261 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,345,485. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.23. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $39.46. 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 (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.06. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 5.25% and a net margin of 10.20%. The business had revenue of $695.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $632.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.36%.

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.