Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus on Murphy Oil is “Hold”: Of 16 covering brokerages, 11 rate the stock a hold, two recommend selling and three recommend buying. The average 12-month price target is $37.67 versus the recent share price of $35.67.
• Institutional ownership is high: Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of Murphy Oil, with notable recent additions from BlackRock, Dimensional Fund Advisors, Arrowstreet Capital and AQR Capital Management.
• Recent results were mixed, but the dividend remains attractive: Quarterly EPS of $1.55 narrowly missed estimates, while revenue of $926.33 million exceeded expectations and rose 33.5% year over year. The company declared a $0.35 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 3.9% annual yield.

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.6667.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. KeyCorp upgraded Murphy Oil from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Mizuho raised Murphy Oil to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, May 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 2nd quarter valued at $626,514,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,171,385 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $337,081,000 after acquiring an additional 238,326 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,572,610 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $174,144,000 after acquiring an additional 143,125 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 105.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,310,884 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $136,574,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 8.3% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,656,394 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $75,468,000 after purchasing an additional 204,349 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 0.5%

Murphy Oil stock opened at $35.67 on Wednesday. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $21.86 and a 52 week high of $43.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.31.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $926.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $888.51 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 6.63%. Murphy Oil's revenue for the quarter was up 33.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is presently 69.31%.

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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