Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Stock Has Average Target Price of $37.83

Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the sixteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.83.

Several research analysts have weighed in on MUR shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “positive” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Mizuho upgraded Murphy Oil to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, September 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the second quarter valued at about $626,514,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,171,385 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $337,081,000 after purchasing an additional 238,326 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 105.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,310,884 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $136,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,498 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,836,056 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,737,000 after purchasing an additional 60,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,571,120 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $64,809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,064 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Murphy Oil stock opened at $37.71 on Thursday. Murphy Oil has a one year low of $26.49 and a one year high of $43.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.37. The company has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67 and a beta of 0.59.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $926.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $888.51 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 6.63% and a net margin of 9.74%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 69.31%.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Its activities include identifying, acquiring, developing and producing crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

The company’s current operations are concentrated in the United States and Canada. In the United States, Murphy Oil has assets in the Eagle Ford and Gulf Coast onshore regions, as well as interests in the Gulf of Mexico. In Canada, the company operates in Western Canadian plays, including the Tupper Montney area.

Murphy Oil was incorporated in 1950 and has historically pursued exploration and production opportunities in several international markets in addition to North America.