Brokerages Set Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) PT at $37.75

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.5833.

Several research firms have issued reports on MUR. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Johnson Rice raised shares of Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to an “accumulate” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,171,385 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $337,081,000 after buying an additional 238,326 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,572,610 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $174,144,000 after buying an additional 143,125 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 668,525 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 105.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,310,884 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $136,574,000 after buying an additional 1,700,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,656,394 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,468,000 after buying an additional 204,349 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $33.91 on Tuesday. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $21.86 and a 12 month high of $43.34. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.48 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $732.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $702.96 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.09% and a net margin of 3.02%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 237.29%.

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.