Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.17.

MUR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $46.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. M&G PLC purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth approximately $8,766,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 40,946 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 6,247 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth $256,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 132.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 24,619 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $831,000 after acquiring an additional 14,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 8.1% in the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 6,574 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company's stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MUR traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $31.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,134,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,660,066. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $34.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Murphy Oil has a one year low of $31.12 and a one year high of $49.14. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 2.20.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The company had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $813.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. Murphy Oil's revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. Murphy Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.58%.

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.