LSV Asset Management Trims Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

LSV Asset Management lessened its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,463,388 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 288,324 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $98,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MUR. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 44.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,068,290 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $69,037,000 after acquiring an additional 950,630 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in Murphy Oil by 60.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 794,510 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 255.3% during 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 in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 49.9% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 946,728 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $21,301,000 after purchasing an additional 315,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 7.0% during 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 buying an additional 312,904 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 3.8%

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $32.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 52-week low of $18.94 and a 52-week high of $35.19. The company has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.73 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.93 and a 200 day moving average of $28.91.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.21. The business had revenue of $613.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $650.90 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.75%. The company’s revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 180.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MUR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, January 16th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $29.42.

Murphy Oil 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.