Scotiabank Reiterates Sector Perform Rating for Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR)

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sector perform" rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Scotiabank in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $26.00 price target on the oil and gas producer's stock, up from their previous price target of $22.00. Scotiabank's target price indicates a potential upside of 0.19% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Johnson Rice downgraded Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $29.46.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR stock traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $25.95. 2,224,040 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,393,012. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $22.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.32. Murphy Oil has a 52-week low of $18.95 and a 52-week high of $43.02. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.09. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The company had revenue of $665.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $684.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Murphy Oil's revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,974,008 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $226,461,000 after acquiring an additional 35,826 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 210.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,610,766 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $159,346,000 after purchasing an additional 3,805,565 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 72.9% in the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 4,812,267 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $136,668,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029,685 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake 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 valued at $103,178,000 after purchasing an additional 825,746 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 106,720 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Murphy Oil

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.