Brokerages Set Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Target Price at $29.15

Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.15.

MUR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 price target on Murphy Oil and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Roth Capital downgraded Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Mizuho downgraded Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Murphy Oil from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,974,008 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $226,461,000 after acquiring an additional 35,826 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 210.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,610,766 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $159,346,000 after buying an additional 3,805,565 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 72.9% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 4,812,267 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $136,668,000 after buying an additional 2,029,685 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 29.4% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,633,023 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $103,178,000 after buying an additional 825,746 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.6% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,052,273 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $86,685,000 after buying an additional 106,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR traded up $2.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.89. The company had a trading volume of 4,025,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,366,328. Murphy Oil has a 52-week low of $18.95 and a 52-week high of $43.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.40.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 13.47%. Murphy Oil's revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.