Morgan Stanley Reaffirms Underweight Rating for Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR)

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "underweight" rating reiterated by Morgan Stanley in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $37.00 price target on the oil and gas producer's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target indicates a potential upside of 19.90% from the stock's previous close.

MUR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.42.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,683,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,141,486. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $27.75 and a 12 month high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 2.17. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $31.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.46.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.74 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. Murphy Oil's revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 106.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 758 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 90.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,758 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 833 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.