Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Receives $29.23 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Reduce" from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $29.23.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. Mizuho cut shares of Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. UBS Group lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Johnson Rice lowered Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, April 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter valued at about $217,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,357 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares during the period. Grace & White Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 151,052 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $4,571,000 after acquiring an additional 9,100 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 201,312 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $6,092,000 after purchasing an additional 6,052 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 25.9% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 13,275 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock traded up $1.05 on Friday, reaching $25.46. 4,393,500 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,280,894. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.54 and a 200 day moving average of $26.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $18.95 and a 52 week high of $43.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 1.09.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.11%. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

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.