Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) to Post Q1 2024 Earnings of $0.92 Per Share, Zacks Research Forecasts

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) – Analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q1 2024 EPS estimates for Murphy Oil in a research report issued on Friday, April 26th. Zacks Research analyst J. Saha now forecasts that the oil and gas producer will earn $0.92 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.95. The consensus estimate for Murphy Oil’s current full-year earnings is $4.74 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Murphy Oil’s Q2 2024 earnings at $1.00 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $1.24 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.37 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $4.52 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.29 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.37 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.66 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.48 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $5.80 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.54 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $6.97 EPS.

MUR has been the topic of several other reports. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.64.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

NYSE MUR opened at $46.44 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $32.80 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.68.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $844.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $852.24 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 19.12% and a return on equity of 13.02%. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,816,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $762,637,000 after acquiring an additional 137,059 shares during the period. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the third quarter valued at $4,937,000. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 21.1% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 31,974 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,450,000 after buying an additional 5,574 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,223 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 0.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 557,463 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,281,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $1,208,584.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares in the company, valued at $379,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Murphy Oil news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares in the company, valued at $379,589.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paul D. Vaughan sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $237,660.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,877 shares in the company, valued at $470,447.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 156,260 shares of company stock worth $6,322,644. Insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.44%.

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.