Grace & White Inc. NY Purchases 27,350 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)

Grace & White Inc. NY grew its holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 18.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 178,402 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 27,350 shares during the period. Grace & White Inc. NY owned about 0.13% of Murphy Oil worth $5,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 342.8% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth $26,000. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth $44,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MUR. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $29.08.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR stock traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $23.11. 2,261,888 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,338,636. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.74. Murphy Oil Corporation has a one year low of $18.95 and a one year high of $43.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 1.09.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.63%. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

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.