SailingStone Capital Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

SailingStone Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 486,854 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $15,852,000. Murphy Oil makes up 3.1% of SailingStone Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 84,061 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth about $265,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 22.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 249,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,074,000 after purchasing an additional 45,841 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,471 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $708,000 after purchasing an additional 2,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 437.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 3,095 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on MUR shares. Wall Street Zen cut Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Mizuho raised Murphy Oil to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Murphy Oil from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $34.00 in a report on Friday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.33.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of MUR opened at $38.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Murphy Oil Corporation has a 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $43.34. The stock has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.95.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 6.63% and a net margin of 9.74%.The firm had revenue of $926.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $888.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 69.31%.

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.