Mizuho Cuts Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $50.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price target cut by Mizuho from $59.00 to $50.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

MUR has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Scotiabank cut shares of Murphy Oil from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $45.00.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR stock opened at $36.02 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.30. The stock has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil has a 1 year low of $33.15 and a 1 year high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.5% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,092,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $45,050,000 after buying an additional 518,904 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at about $16,349,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 92.1% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 687,254 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,342,000 after purchasing an additional 329,521 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,254,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $340,400,000 after purchasing an additional 262,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 83.3% in the second quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 545,926 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $22,514,000 after purchasing an additional 248,134 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.