Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Stock Rating Lowered by Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays downgraded Murphy Oil from “equal weight” to “underweight” and set a $34 price target, implying 2.13% downside from the stock’s $34.74 opening price.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with three Buy, ten Hold, and three Sell ratings; the overall consensus is Hold with an average target price of $37.50.
• Murphy Oil narrowly missed quarterly EPS estimates at $1.55 versus $1.57 expected, although revenue rose 33.5% year over year to $926.33 million; institutional investors own 78.31% of the stock.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Barclays from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $34.00 price objective on the oil and gas producer's stock. Barclays's price objective indicates a potential downside of 2.13% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Murphy Oil to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.50.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $34.74 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.37. Murphy Oil has a one year low of $21.86 and a one year high of $43.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $626,514,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,171,385 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $337,081,000 after acquiring an additional 238,326 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $174,144,000 after acquiring an additional 143,125 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position 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 valued at $136,574,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $75,468,000 after acquiring an additional 204,349 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

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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