SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires Shares of 23,649 Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)

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

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,576 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 227,680 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $6,890,000 after acquiring an additional 34,620 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $56,214,000 after acquiring an additional 13,263 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth about $678,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at about $618,000. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR stock traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.80. 4,013,672 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,325,680. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $22.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 1.09. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.95 and a 1-year high of $43.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 13.47%. Murphy Oil's revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on MUR shares. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Johnson Rice cut Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $29.23.

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.