SG Americas Securities LLC Invests $672,000 in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 23,649 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MUR. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 64,570 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 13,275 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth $618,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth $202,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 815,326 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $24,672,000 after purchasing an additional 8,666 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at about $233,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR traded down $0.20 on Friday, reaching $24.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,187,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,310,235. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 1.09. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $22.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.96. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.95 and a 12-month high of $43.02.

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

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is 50.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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 decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Johnson Rice lowered shares of Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.23.

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.