Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Purchases 2,029,685 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation by 72.9%, acquiring over 2 million shares to bring its total shares to approximately 4.81 million, valued at $136.67 million.
• Murphy Oil reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.27 for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, although revenue decreased 13.4% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.325 with a dividend yield of 5.4%, set to be paid in September.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 72.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,812,267 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 2,029,685 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 3.37% of Murphy Oil worth $136,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,974,008 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $226,461,000 after acquiring an additional 35,826 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 210.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,610,766 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $159,346,000 after purchasing an additional 3,805,565 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 29.4% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,633,023 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $103,178,000 after purchasing an additional 825,746 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,234,585 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $67,619,000 after purchasing an additional 107,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 61.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,147,590 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $64,986,000 after purchasing an additional 821,427 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Johnson Rice lowered Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 target price on Murphy Oil and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays raised 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. Finally, Mizuho lowered Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $32.00 to $31.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $29.69.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Murphy Oil stock traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.65. 1,711,372 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,873,278. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $24.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 1.13. Murphy Oil Corporation has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $38.08. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $695.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $632.51 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 5.25% and a net margin of 10.20%.Murphy Oil's quarterly revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Murphy Oil's 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.