Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.35

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share by the oil and gas producer on Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th.

Murphy Oil has increased its dividend by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 5 consecutive years. Murphy Oil has a dividend payout ratio of 52.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Murphy Oil to earn $2.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.2%.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MUR opened at $37.25 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. The firm has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.38. Murphy Oil has a 1-year low of $26.49 and a 1-year high of $43.34.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.02). The firm 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 firm’s revenue was up 33.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Seaport Research Partners began coverage on Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays cut Murphy Oil from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $38.00 to $34.00 in a report on Friday, August 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.27.

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.