Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Trading Up 7.6% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Murphy Oil's stock price increased by 7.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday, closing at $29.14 after a previous close of $27.09.
• Several financial analysts have raised their price targets for Murphy Oil, with a consensus price target set at $29.54 while the consensus rating is "Reduce."
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.325 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.6%, and a payout ratio of 67.36%.

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) shares were up 7.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $29.29 and last traded at $29.14. Approximately 599,091 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 2,815,400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $26.00 price target (up from $22.00) on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Zacks Research lowered Murphy Oil from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 price objective on Murphy Oil and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $29.54.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 3.5%

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

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

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,974,008 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $226,461,000 after purchasing an additional 35,826 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,700,148 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $128,253,000 after acquiring an additional 89,382 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 72.9% in the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 4,812,267 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $136,668,000 after acquiring an additional 2,029,685 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,766,534 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $107,247,000 after acquiring an additional 312,904 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,751,712 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $84,414,000 after acquiring an additional 118,689 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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