Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $39.55, but opened at $41.41. Murphy Oil shares last traded at $41.0830, with a volume of 112,862 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Murphy Oil to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.36.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 56.47 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.66. 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 (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.21. The company had revenue of $613.08 million during 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 revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 194.44%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In other news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 67.3% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 72.9% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 437.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 3,095 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.