Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) PT Lowered to $39.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $41.00 to $39.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $44.82.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 2.9 %

MUR opened at $33.73 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $32.53 and a 12 month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.32%. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 3.57 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 33.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,092,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $45,050,000 after buying an additional 518,904 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth approximately $16,349,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position 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 increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,254,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $340,400,000 after purchasing an additional 262,256 shares during the period. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 83.3% during the 2nd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 545,926 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $22,514,000 after purchasing an additional 248,134 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.