Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Upgraded to Equal Weight at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $33.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock, up from their prior price target of $29.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MUR. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.45.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 5.9%

Shares of MUR opened at $36.78 on Friday. Murphy Oil has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $36.90. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.35. The stock has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 51.09 and a beta of 0.72.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 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 company earned $0.35 EPS. Murphy Oil’s revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

In other news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,222,049.14. This trade represents a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of 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. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at approximately $920,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Murphy Oil by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,736,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $106,163,000 after purchasing an additional 668,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Murphy Oil by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,766,534 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $107,247,000 after purchasing an additional 312,904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

More Murphy Oil News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Crude rally / Middle East supply-risk premium: Oil prices have stayed elevated amid renewed geopolitical risk in the Middle East, prompting a rotation into upstream names. Murphy’s cash flows are closely tied to crude, so the stock typically amplifies moves in oil. Murphy Oil jumps as crude stays elevated
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler upgrade: Piper Sandler upgraded Murphy to an overweight/buy on rising oil prices, which can attract demand from model-driven and institutional buyers. Piper Sandler upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised rating to equal-weight and lifted its target to $33, trimming a prior underweight stance — a modest vote of confidence that supports the stock in the current oil-driven rally. Barclays upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $33 recently and other analysts (e.g., Piper Sandler) have lifted targets — analyst support combined with higher oil tends to boost sentiment. Goldman Sachs price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase: Murphy recently raised its quarterly dividend (latest $0.35), which improves income appeal and can provide support during sector upswings. MarketBeat: dividend and company summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed institutional flows: Large funds show both meaningful additions (FMR added millions of shares) and sizable reductions from others; this churn can amplify intraday moves but is ambiguous for longer-term direction. QuiverQuant: institutional & hedge fund activity
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SVP Daniel Hanchera sold 47,320 shares (~$1.6M) in early March and reduced his holding materially; large insider sales can create near-term selling pressure or raise governance questions for some investors. SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst consensus / targets still mixed and average targets remain below the current share price: while a few firms raised targets, the median analyst target is around the low $30s and several firms maintain hold/underweight ratings — a reminder of upside limits if oil cools. MarketBeat: analyst coverage & targets

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.