Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Given a $24.00 Price Target at UBS Group

UBS Group set a $24.00 price objective on Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on MUR. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $26.00 price target (up from $22.00) on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, July 11th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.54.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.2%

MUR stock opened at $23.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.31. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $39.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $695.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $632.51 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 5.25% and a net margin of 10.20%. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 67.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,989.7% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,186 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,710.9% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,666 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy Oil

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.