Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Stock Position Lowered by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 52.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,578 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 11,744 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth $30,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 23.0% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,132,305 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,746,000 after purchasing an additional 212,100 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.1% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Monument Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth $202,000. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR opened at $33.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 2.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.60 and a 200-day moving average of $40.01. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52-week low of $32.53 and a 52-week high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.32%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.17.

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.