HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 418.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 645,252 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 520,894 shares during the quarter. Murphy Oil comprises about 1.4% of HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC owned 0.44% of Murphy Oil worth $19,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,807,277 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $84,948,000 after acquiring an additional 114,656 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $56,214,000 after purchasing an additional 13,263 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $53,008,000 after purchasing an additional 837,282 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,674,590 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $50,673,000 after purchasing an additional 283,695 shares during the period. Finally, Cadence Bank grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 1,658,227 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $50,178,000 after buying an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 6.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.77.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $21.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.45. Murphy Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $18.95 and a 52 week high of $46.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 1.68.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.10%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

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.