Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Short Interest Up 19.8% in February

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 19,530,000 shares, a growth of 19.8% from the February 13th total of 16,300,000 shares. Currently, 14.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,500,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. This trade represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 342.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of MUR traded up $1.01 on Wednesday, reaching $27.11. The stock had a trading volume of 2,771,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,745,327. Murphy Oil has a twelve month low of $22.90 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.14 and a 200 day moving average of $31.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 2.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUR has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.31.

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.