Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Stock Price

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective reduced by Piper Sandler from $35.00 to $30.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.31.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 2.0%

Murphy Oil stock opened at $22.53 on Tuesday. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $18.95 and a 52 week high of $43.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.38 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.72.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 399.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,012,944 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $34,177,000 after purchasing an additional 810,104 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,881 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 15.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 733,874 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $22,207,000 after buying an additional 61,157 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.