Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Shares Up 4.3% – Here’s Why

Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) were up 4.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $39.94 and last traded at $39.8260. 107,711 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 2,129,957 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MUR shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.75.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 5.3%

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $36.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90 and a beta of 0.50.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 6.63%. The firm had revenue of $926.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $888.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil in the second quarter valued at $2,065,000. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 550,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $17,188,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 2nd quarter worth about $15,852,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,745,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 942,927 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $38,896,000 after buying an additional 187,610 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Its activities include acquiring acreage, drilling and developing wells, and producing crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids for sale to customers and markets.

The company’s portfolio is primarily focused on onshore assets in the United States, including operations in the Eagle Ford and other U.S. resource plays, as well as offshore production in the Gulf of Mexico. Murphy Oil has also maintained an international exploration and production presence, including projects in Canada and Malaysia, though its asset portfolio has changed over time through acquisitions and divestitures.

Murphy Oil traces its roots to the Murphy family’s business interests and has operated as a publicly traded energy company for decades.