Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Mizuho upped their target price on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $29.42.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE MUR opened at $33.11 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.56. The company has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.99 and a beta of 0.78. Murphy Oil has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $35.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.21. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.75% and a net margin of 3.83%.The company had revenue of $613.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MUR. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 11,091 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 45,662 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,893 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.