Earnest Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC has increased its stake in Murphy Oil Corporation by 3.6% during the first quarter, now holding over 3 million shares valued at approximately $86.7 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly raised their stakes in Murphy Oil, with some increasing holdings by nearly 4,000%.
• Murphy Oil reported earnings per share of $0.27 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, despite a 13.4% drop in revenue compared to the previous year.

Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,052,273 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 106,720 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 2.14% of Murphy Oil worth $86,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 34.6% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,893 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,317 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 489.1% in the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 399,104 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $11,335,000 after purchasing an additional 331,355 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 14.2% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 214,258 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $6,085,000 after purchasing an additional 26,563 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 7,070.1% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 113,144 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,210,000 after purchasing an additional 111,566 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on MUR shares. Roth Capital lowered Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $26.00 price target (up from $22.00) on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $29.69.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 0.7%

MUR traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $24.93. 1,395,750 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,286,989. The firm's fifty day moving average is $24.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.93. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $38.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 1.15.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $695.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $632.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. Murphy Oil's revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.36%.

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.