Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 84,985 Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Murphy Oil Corporation by 252.3% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.08% of the company valued at $3.37 million.
• Murphy Oil reported earnings per share of $0.27 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, but its revenue was down 13.4% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.325 per share, representing an annualized yield of 5.4%, payable on September 2nd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 252.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 118,675 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 84,985 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Murphy Oil worth $3,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 210.8% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 3,805,565 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 29.4% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,633,023 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $103,178,000 after acquiring an additional 825,746 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,234,585 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $67,619,000 after acquiring an additional 107,871 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 61.9% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,147,590 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $64,986,000 after acquiring an additional 821,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 8,530.7% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,763,345 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $50,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.7%

Murphy Oil stock traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.93. 1,395,750 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,333,971. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 1.13. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $38.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.98.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $695.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $632.51 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 5.25% and a net margin of 10.20%.The firm's revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS 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 given 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MUR shares. Roth Capital downgraded Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $26.00 target price (up previously from $22.00) on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, July 11th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Johnson Rice lowered Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $29.69.

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.