Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Trading 5.4% Higher - What's Next?

Key Points

• Murphy Oil's stock rose 5.4% to a trading price of $27.56, despite a significant drop in trading volume, which was 81% lower than its average session volume.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on the stock, with price targets ranging from $23.00 to $32.00, and a consensus rating of "Reduce," indicating varying expectations on its future performance.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.325 per share, yielding 4.7%, and institutional investors hold approximately 78.31% of its stock, suggesting strong institutional interest.

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 5.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $27.45 and last traded at $27.56. 521,346 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 2,816,549 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MUR. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $29.54.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 6.6%

The business's 50-day moving average price is $24.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio is 67.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 34.6% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,893 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,317 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 489.1% during the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 399,104 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $11,335,000 after purchasing an additional 331,355 shares during the last quarter. 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. increased its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Murphy Oil by 7,070.1% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 113,144 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,210,000 after purchasing an additional 111,566 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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