Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Trading Down 5.2% – Time to Sell?

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) shares were down 5.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $38.40 and last traded at $38.2950. Approximately 388,580 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 2,130,206 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.40.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MUR shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Seaport Research Partners began coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Mizuho raised shares of Murphy Oil to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.75.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.74 and a 200-day moving average of $37.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $926.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $888.51 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 6.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Murphy Oil in the second quarter valued at approximately $626,514,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,171,385 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $337,081,000 after purchasing an additional 238,326 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 105.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,310,884 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $136,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,498 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,836,056 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,737,000 after purchasing an additional 60,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,571,120 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $64,809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,064 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Its activities include acquiring acreage, drilling and developing wells, and producing crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids for sale to customers and markets.

The company’s portfolio is primarily focused on onshore assets in the United States, including operations in the Eagle Ford and other U.S. resource plays, as well as offshore production in the Gulf of Mexico. Murphy Oil has also maintained an international exploration and production presence, including projects in Canada and Malaysia, though its asset portfolio has changed over time through acquisitions and divestitures.

Murphy Oil traces its roots to the Murphy family’s business interests and has operated as a publicly traded energy company for decades.