Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Stock Price Up 7.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 7.2% during trading on Tuesday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $26.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Murphy Oil traded as high as $25.32 and last traded at $25.57. 558,327 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 2,353,599 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.84.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Mizuho downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two equities 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.46.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 4.4% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 700,779 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $15,768,000 after acquiring an additional 29,765 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 148.1% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,273 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 213.3% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 38,070 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $932,000 after acquiring an additional 25,919 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the second quarter valued at $367,000. Finally, Baron Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the second quarter valued at $223,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 1.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business's 50-day moving average is $22.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.37.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The business had revenue of $665.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $684.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.