UBS Group Has Lowered Expectations for Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Stock Price

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its target price dropped by analysts at UBS Group from $38.00 to $34.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. UBS Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 12.32% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MUR. Mizuho lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.25.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR opened at $30.27 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.53. Murphy Oil has a 1-year low of $29.84 and a 1-year high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $758.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.74 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. The business’s revenue was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Murphy Oil in the third quarter valued at about $1,217,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 21.2% in the second quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 218,739 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $9,021,000 after purchasing an additional 38,334 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Murphy Oil by 24.2% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 166,316 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,859,000 after purchasing an additional 32,411 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 50.5% in the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 307,092 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,361,000 after purchasing an additional 103,092 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in Murphy Oil in the first quarter valued at about $1,700,000. 78.31% of the stock is 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.