Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Key Points

• Pacific Heights Asset Management increased its Murphy Oil stake by 10% in the fourth quarter, buying 50,000 more shares to bring its total to 550,000 shares worth about $17.2 million.
• Murphy Oil reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings of $0.32 per share, topping estimates, while revenue rose 9% year over year to $732.35 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, equal to a 3.4% annualized yield, though its payout ratio is high at 237.29%.

Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 550,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC owned 0.39% of Murphy Oil worth $17,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 67.3% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 72.9% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 437.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 3,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.1% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 5,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $40.64 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.60 and a 200-day moving average of $33.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.88 and a beta of 0.55. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 12 month low of $20.31 and a 12 month high of $43.34.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.02% and a return on equity of 3.09%. The business had revenue of $732.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $702.96 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. Murphy Oil's quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is currently 237.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MUR shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Friday, March 27th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Johnson Rice raised shares of Murphy Oil from a "hold" rating to an "accumulate" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.73.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In related news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,222,049.14. This represents a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.79% of the company's stock.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company's operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil's exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.

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