Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $24.41, but opened at $25.65. Murphy Oil shares last traded at $25.43, with a volume of 1,196,245 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MUR. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Johnson Rice cut shares of Murphy Oil from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $29.23.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 4.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 1.09. The business's 50-day moving average is $21.66 and its 200 day moving average is $26.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $684.89 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 5.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Choreo LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at about $217,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,357 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY increased its position in Murphy Oil by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 151,052 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $4,571,000 after purchasing an additional 9,100 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 201,312 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $6,092,000 after purchasing an additional 6,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 64,570 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,954,000 after buying an additional 13,275 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by 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.