Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on MUR. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Murphy Oil from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $28.33.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 3.2%

Murphy Oil stock opened at $28.84 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.94 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.84. Murphy Oil has a fifty-two week low of $18.94 and a fifty-two week high of $34.52. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.01.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 21st. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 5.25% and a net margin of 10.20%.The firm had revenue of $440.08 million for the quarter. Equities research analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 132.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3,989.7% in the first 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 last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 1,710.9% during the first 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. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 246.6% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,747 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 148.1% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357 shares during the last quarter. 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.