Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Reaches New 52-Week Low After Earnings Miss

Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) reached a new 52-week low on Thursday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The company traded as low as $27.20 and last traded at $27.68, with a volume of 645177 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $29.18.

The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.73%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 38.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on MUR shares. Mizuho lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.08.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 201,312 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,092,000 after buying an additional 6,052 shares during the last quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY grew its position in Murphy Oil by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 151,052 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,571,000 after acquiring an additional 9,100 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,008,000 after purchasing an additional 837,282 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,357 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 26,628 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 3,046 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $30.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.00. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 2.17.

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.