Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The oil and gas producer reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.02), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $926.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $888.51 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 6.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE MUR traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,661,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,227,874. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51 and a beta of 0.50. Murphy Oil has a 1-year low of $21.86 and a 1-year high of $43.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $36.21 and its 200-day moving average is $36.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MUR. Roth Capital restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho raised Murphy Oil to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. KeyCorp raised Murphy Oil from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.08.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SIR Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth $30,896,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth $21,096,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,056,427 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,423,000 after purchasing an additional 514,127 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 49.9% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 946,728 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $21,301,000 after purchasing an additional 315,199 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 13.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,452,045 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $55,171,000 after purchasing an additional 294,338 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.