Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target Raised to $33.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its target price upped by Piper Sandler from $32.00 to $33.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group increased their price target on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $29.83.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $34.67 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.33 and a 200 day moving average of $30.01. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 48.15 and a beta of 0.72. Murphy Oil has a 12-month low of $18.94 and a 12-month high of $36.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released 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 net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.73%. The company had revenue of $613.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 194.44%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 255.3% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 508,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,433,000 after purchasing an additional 365,011 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 60.0% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,119,622 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $60,218,000 after buying an additional 794,510 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the third quarter valued at approximately $920,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,766,534 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $107,247,000 after buying an additional 312,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 512.1% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,948 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,987,000 after buying an additional 58,521 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.