Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $35.27 and last traded at $34.3910, with a volume of 310163 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MUR shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $29.42.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $32.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.43 and a beta of 0.72.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. The business had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.73%. Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.35 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 194.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TMB Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth about $808,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 137.1% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 32,972 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $995,000 after purchasing an additional 19,067 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,768 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,125,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.