Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Trading Down 4.1% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Murphy Oil's stock fell 4.1%, closing at $28.81, significantly below the previous close of $30.03, with trading volume down by 91%.
• Analysts have set varying price targets, with Mizuho lowering its target from $31.00 to $29.00, while Piper Sandler raised its target to $32.00, indicating mixed sentiments on the stock's outlook.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.325 per share, representing an annualized yield of 4.5%, with a payout ratio of 67.36%.

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) traded down 4.1% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $28.51 and last traded at $28.81. 246,853 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 2,810,890 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 price target on Murphy Oil and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on Murphy Oil from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Murphy Oil from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three 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 Stock Down 3.6%

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.96. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is currently 67.36%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 valued at $366,000 after acquiring 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 valued at $11,335,000 after acquiring 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 valued at $88,000 after acquiring 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 valued at $6,085,000 after acquiring an additional 26,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 11.4% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 134,575 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,851,000 after acquiring an additional 13,759 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

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