Brokerages Set Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) PT at $29.42

Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and thirteen have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $29.4167.

Several brokerages have weighed in on MUR. Barclays dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:MUR opened at $33.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.89 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $31.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.32. Murphy Oil has a 52-week low of $18.94 and a 52-week high of $35.19.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.21. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.75% and a net margin of 3.83%.The company had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 194.44%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MUR. TMB Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $808,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 137.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 32,972 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $995,000 after purchasing an additional 19,067 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,768 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth $1,125,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.