Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Sunday morning.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, December 29th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Murphy Oil from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $29.83.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 3.1%

NYSE:MUR opened at $32.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Murphy Oil has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $36.08. The company has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 45.28 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.40 and a 200-day moving average of $30.20.

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

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 194.44%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 61.8% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,495 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 8,590 shares during the period. Flax Pond Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth $6,967,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth $233,000. TMB Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth about $808,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.1% in 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 buying an additional 1,873 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Murphy Oil

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.