Short Interest in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Expands By 19.8%

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 19,530,000 shares, a growth of 19.8% from the February 13th total of 16,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,500,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.8 days. Approximately 14.2% of the company's shares are short sold.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:MUR traded down $0.11 on Friday, reaching $26.73. 14,859,323 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,782,955. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $22.90 and a 12 month high of $49.14. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $27.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.94.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 342.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It explores for and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. The company was formerly known as Murphy Corporation and changed its name to Murphy Oil Corporation in 1964.