Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.64.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $44.61 on Thursday. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $32.80 and a 12 month high of $49.14. The stock has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.59.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $794.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $750.94 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 11.75%. Murphy Oil’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 4.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 33.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total value of $433,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 40,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,759,576.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Louis W. Utsch sold 30,260 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $1,208,584.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Maria A. Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total value of $433,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 40,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,759,576.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 156,260 shares of company stock valued at $6,322,644. 5.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 22,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 47.7% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 721 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 1.1% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,629,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 6.2% in the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 6,940 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by 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.