KeyCorp Brokers Lift Earnings Estimates for Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) – Research analysts at KeyCorp increased their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Murphy Oil in a research note issued on Wednesday, April 1st. KeyCorp analyst T. Rezvan now expects that the oil and gas producer will post earnings per share of $0.47 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.32. KeyCorp currently has a “Sector Weight” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Murphy Oil’s current full-year earnings is $2.94 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Murphy Oil’s Q2 2026 earnings at $1.50 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.29 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.43 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $4.69 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.40 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $1.30 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $1.12 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $1.38 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $5.20 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank upgraded Murphy Oil to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, Johnson Rice upgraded Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to an “accumulate” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.36.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE MUR opened at $42.66 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.11. Murphy Oil has a 12-month low of $18.94 and a 12-month high of $43.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.24 and a beta of 0.59.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.73%. The business had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Murphy Oil’s revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 194.44%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 11,091 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Impact Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.9% during 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 period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.1% during 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 period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Murphy Oil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp sharply raised multi-quarter and multi-year EPS forecasts for Murphy — including big lifts to FY2026 (to $4.69 from $1.59) and FY2027 (to $5.20 from $2.51) and numerous quarter-by-quarter upgrades (e.g., Q2 2026 to $1.50, Q1 2027 to $1.40). These upward revisions suggest the analyst expects stronger cash flow/earnings ahead and help justify a higher stock price if realized. KeyCorp still carries a “Sector Weight” rating. MarketBeat: MUR analyst notes
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend declared: Murphy announced a $0.35 quarterly dividend (record/ex-dividend dates in May; payable June 1), implying a ~3.4% yield. That bolsters income appeal and can support near-term demand for the shares, especially for yield-seeking investors. MarketBeat: MUR dividend notice
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry item — Genoil announced a refining technology that raises fuel/diesel yields. Interesting for the energy sector but not directly tied to Murphy’s upstream-focused production and near-term earnings; unlikely to be a material driver for MUR today. Genoil press release

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.