CI Investments Inc. Sells 29,200 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Key Points

• CI Investments cut its stake in Murphy Oil by 47.7% in Q3, selling 29,200 shares and leaving 32,065 shares valued at about $911,000.
• Analysts' consensus rating for MUR is "Reduce" with an average price target of $29.83, below the recent share price, driven mainly by Hold and some Sell recommendations.
• Murphy raised its quarterly dividend to $0.35 (annualized $1.40) for a ~4.1% yield, but the dividend payout ratio is very high at 194.44%.

CI Investments Inc. cut its stake in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 47.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,065 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 29,200 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc.'s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MUR. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 67.3% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 39.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,440 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 437.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 5,723 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.1% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 5,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUR has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research cut Murphy Oil from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Murphy Oil from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $29.83.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

NYSE:MUR opened at $34.34 on Friday. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.94 and a 12-month high of $36.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.69 and a beta of 0.72. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $32.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.21. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.73% and a net margin of 3.83%.The business had revenue of $613.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $650.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is a boost from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio is 194.44%.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company's operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil's exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.

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