Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Receives $29.54 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Key Points

• Murphy Oil Corporation has received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from analysts, with three analysts rating it as a sell and eleven as a hold.
• The average twelve-month price target set by brokers for Murphy Oil is $29.54, with recent adjustments indicating varying perspectives on the stock's value.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.325 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 4.9% and a payout ratio of 67.36%.

Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.5385.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MUR. Zacks Research lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Mizuho cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Murphy Oil from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR stock traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $27.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,846,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,829,801. The company has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06 and a beta of 1.15. Murphy Oil has a twelve month low of $18.94 and a twelve month high of $36.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.84.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $695.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $632.51 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 10.20% and a return on equity of 5.25%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is currently 67.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 34.6% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,893 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 3,317 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 489.1% in the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 399,104 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $11,335,000 after purchasing an additional 331,355 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 146.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 14.2% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 214,258 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $6,085,000 after purchasing an additional 26,563 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 11.4% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 134,575 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,851,000 after purchasing an additional 13,759 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

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.