Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.67.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MUR. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 27th.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE MUR opened at $36.05 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.75. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $32.53 and a 12 month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.32%. The business had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $813.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued 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 yield of 3.33%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 33.43%.

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.