Old West Investment Management LLC Takes $2.84 Million Position in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Key Points

• Old West Investment Management LLC has acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil Corporation, purchasing 100,000 shares valued at approximately $2.84 million, representing 0.07% of the company.
• Research analysts have recently downgraded Murphy Oil's ratings, with Roth Capital changing its recommendation from "buy" to "neutral," affecting the stock's price objectives.
• Murphy Oil announced a quarterly dividend of $0.325, resulting in an annualized yield of 5.4%, with the payout scheduled for September 2nd for shareholders who own the stock by August 18th.

Old West Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 100,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $2,840,000. Old West Investment Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Murphy Oil at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MUR. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,989.7% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,186 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,710.9% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,666 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,574 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. Mizuho lowered shares of Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $26.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Johnson Rice cut Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Roth Capital cut 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $29.69.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.7%

Murphy Oil stock traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $24.93. 1,395,750 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,333,971. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $24.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.95. 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 1.13. Murphy Oil Corporation has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $38.08.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $695.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $632.51 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 5.25% and a net margin of 10.20%.The business's revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. On average, 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 will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.