Eisler Capital Management Ltd. Takes Position in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Key Points

• Eisler Capital Management Ltd. acquired 13,218 shares of Murphy Oil Corporation, valued at approximately $376,000, during Q1 2023.
• Murphy Oil announced a quarterly dividend of $0.325, translating to an annualized yield of 5.3%, with a payout ratio of 67.36%.
• Research firms have mixed ratings on Murphy Oil, with UBS raising its price target to $24, while Roth Capital and Morgan Stanley have downgraded their ratings and price targets.

Eisler Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,218 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $376,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 194.1% in the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 22,663 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 14,957 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 204,053 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $5,795,000 after acquiring an additional 3,237 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth $209,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. raised its position in Murphy Oil by 6.3% during the first quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 57,506 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 3,422 shares during the period. Finally, Old West Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth $2,840,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MUR shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up from $22.00) on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays increased their target price on Murphy Oil from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. 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. Finally, Johnson Rice downgraded Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $29.69.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of MUR traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,647,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,849,906. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $36.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 1.15.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.06. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 10.20% and a return on equity of 5.25%. The firm had revenue of $695.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $632.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. Murphy Oil's quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.