Weiss Ratings Reiterates Hold (C-) Rating for Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings maintained a "hold (C-)" rating for Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) as of a recent research note, suggesting cautious investment sentiment towards the stock.
• Analyst Ratings: Among various brokerage reports, UBS raised its price target to $24.00 while Zacks downgraded the stock from "hold" to "strong sell," indicating mixed analyst opinions on its future performance.
• Murphy Oil's quarterly earnings revealed a beat on EPS expectations but a 13.4% decline in revenue compared to the same quarter last year, highlighting challenges in the current market environment.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c-)" rating reiterated by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MUR. UBS Group raised their price target on Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 target price on Murphy Oil and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Murphy Oil from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. One investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $27.25.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

NYSE MUR traded down $0.43 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.59. 245,555 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,787,065. The company has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Murphy Oil has a 12-month low of $18.94 and a 12-month high of $36.24.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 18,060 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Mustard Seed Financial LLC grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Mustard Seed Financial LLC now owns 17,861 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 17,367 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 87,933 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,978,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 5,723 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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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