Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target Raised to $39.00 at Mizuho

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective lifted by Mizuho from $35.00 to $39.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on MUR. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Barclays raised Murphy Oil from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.82.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE MUR opened at $36.84 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $32.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.60. 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 has a twelve month low of $18.94 and a twelve month high of $37.33. The company has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 51.17 and a beta of 0.72.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.73% and a net margin of 3.83%.The company had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 194.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy Oil news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 36,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,222,049.14. This represents a 56.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 72.9% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 39.7% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,440 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

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.