Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Cut to “Hold” at Truist Financial

Truist Financial cut shares of Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. Truist Financial currently has $31.00 price objective on the oil and gas producer’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $42.00.

A number of other research firms have also commented on MUR. Barclays lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.83.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 3.3 %

MUR stock opened at $26.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $30.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.78. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 2.17. Murphy Oil has a twelve month low of $26.47 and a twelve month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 9.22%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 38.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MUR. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,191.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,627,268 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $54,904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577,831 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,008,000 after acquiring an additional 837,282 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 399.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,012,944 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $34,177,000 after acquiring an additional 810,104 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 641.7% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 672,717 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $22,697,000 after buying an additional 582,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 26.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,260 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,824,000 after buying an additional 336,372 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.