Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.00.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Murphy Oil stock opened at $38.73 on Tuesday. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $36.34 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.15. The stock has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 16.40%. The business had revenue of $794.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.94 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter worth about $215,000. Pathstone Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at approximately $258,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 26.0% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,943 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 7,531 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 503,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $22,839,000 after buying an additional 6,172 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It explores for and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. The company was formerly known as Murphy Corporation and changed its name to Murphy Oil Corporation in 1964.