Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Shares Acquired by Poplar Forest Capital LLC

Poplar Forest Capital LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 437,823 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 103,390 shares during the period. Murphy Oil comprises approximately 2.0% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Poplar Forest Capital LLC owned 0.30% of Murphy Oil worth $14,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,254,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $340,400,000 after buying an additional 262,256 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,737,409 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $125,100,000 after purchasing an additional 195,906 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,138,985 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $88,212,000 after purchasing an additional 107,462 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 3,191.6% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 1,577,831 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 90.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,092,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $45,050,000 after purchasing an additional 518,904 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 4.9 %

NYSE MUR opened at $32.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.59. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $30.99 and a 12 month high of $49.14. The company has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 2.21.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The business had revenue of $802.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MUR. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $46.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.17.

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.