Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Sets New 52-Week Low at $35.49

Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $35.49 and last traded at $35.67, with a volume of 1678633 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $49.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy Oil from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $47.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.91.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a PE ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 2.25.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The firm had revenue of $802.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $813.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.43%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 47.7% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 721 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

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.