Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Receives $37.67 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.50.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MUR shares. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE MUR opened at $34.63 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $21.86 and a 52 week high of $43.34. The company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14 and a beta of 0.50.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 6.63% and a net margin of 9.74%.The firm had revenue of $926.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $888.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 33.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 69.31%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $626,514,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,171,385 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $337,081,000 after buying an additional 238,326 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.6% in the fourth 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. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 105.6% in the first 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 boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 8.3% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,656,394 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,468,000 after acquiring an additional 204,349 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

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.