Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Short Interest Down 12.6% in June

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,430,000 shares, a drop of 12.6% from the May 31st total of 7,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,380,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days. Currently, 4.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

NYSE:MUR traded up $0.06 on Friday, hitting $41.24. The company had a trading volume of 2,903,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,397,580. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $36.34 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 2.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.07.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $794.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $750.94 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 16.40%. Murphy Oil's revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil's payout ratio is 33.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MUR. Barclays assumed coverage on Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy Oil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,816,692 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $762,637,000 after buying an additional 137,059 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,861,968 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $335,397,000 after acquiring an additional 207,547 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,737,409 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $125,100,000 after purchasing an additional 195,906 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3,904.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,090,904 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $89,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,777,408 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $75,824,000 after purchasing an additional 45,236 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.