Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.27 EPS

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27), RTT News reports. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR stock traded down $1.82 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $27.36. 2,250,598 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,165,998. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.05. The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Murphy Oil has a 12-month low of $27.20 and a 12-month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.325 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MUR. Barclays lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.08.

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.