Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $20.93, but opened at $21.77. Murphy Oil shares last traded at $21.41, with a volume of 231,006 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.23.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 4.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.36 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.58.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $684.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 210.8% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 3,805,565 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,029,685 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 8,530.7% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,763,345 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $50,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,914 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 111.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,157,707 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $61,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $53,008,000 after purchasing an additional 837,282 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company's stock.

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.