Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Johnson Rice upgraded the stock from a hold rating to an accumulate rating. The company traded as high as $39.94 and last traded at $39.8050, with a volume of 793893 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.62.

A number of other analysts have also commented on MUR. Mizuho lifted their price target on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy Oil news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total transaction of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,049.14. This trade represents a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 6.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,933,059 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $247,912,000 after buying an additional 231,253 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.6% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,700,148 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $128,253,000 after acquiring an additional 89,382 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 7.0% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,766,534 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $107,247,000 after acquiring an additional 312,904 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 21.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,736,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $106,163,000 after acquiring an additional 668,525 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 8.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,656,394 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $75,468,000 after purchasing an additional 204,349 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 55.56 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.12.

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

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 194.44%.

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.