Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Hits New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after Mizuho lowered their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $45.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Murphy Oil traded as low as $29.66 and last traded at $29.90, with a volume of 86647 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $30.29.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.83.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 106.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 2.4 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.49 and a 200-day moving average of $36.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 2.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $758.33 million for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.71%.

About Murphy Oil

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.