Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 156,751 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 32.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 329,370 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 156,751 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Murphy Oil worth $11,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% during the second 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 period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 106.5% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $32.50 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.90. Murphy Oil Co. has a one year low of $30.99 and a one year high of $49.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 2.21.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. The company had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.69%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.08.

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.