Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.46.

MUR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Roth Capital downgraded Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective (up previously from $22.00) on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, July 11th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 4.7%

Murphy Oil stock opened at $23.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10 and a beta of 1.09. Murphy Oil has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $39.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $24.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.78.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,974,008 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $226,461,000 after purchasing an additional 35,826 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 210.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,610,766 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $159,346,000 after purchasing an additional 3,805,565 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 72.9% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 4,812,267 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $136,668,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029,685 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 29.4% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,633,023 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $103,178,000 after purchasing an additional 825,746 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 3.6% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,052,273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $86,685,000 after purchasing an additional 106,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

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.