KBC Group NV Grows Stock Position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 59.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,835 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MUR. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 733,874 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $22,207,000 after acquiring an additional 61,157 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 38,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 5,326 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,881 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $276,000. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $26.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Murphy Oil Co. has a 1 year low of $25.26 and a 1 year high of $49.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $30.45 and its 200 day moving average is $33.56.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 44.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MUR shares. Barclays decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.33.

Murphy Oil 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.