Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $37.83 According to Analysts

Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.27.

MUR has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lowered Murphy Oil from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Mizuho raised shares of Murphy Oil to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners started coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE MUR opened at $38.42 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.39. Murphy Oil has a twelve month low of $26.49 and a twelve month high of $43.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 0.59.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $926.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $888.51 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 6.63% and a net margin of 9.74%.Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the second quarter valued at approximately $626,514,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,171,385 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $337,081,000 after acquiring an additional 238,326 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 105.6% during the first 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 grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.4% in the first 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 increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,571,120 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $64,809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,064 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Its activities include identifying, acquiring, developing and producing crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

The company’s current operations are concentrated in the United States and Canada. In the United States, Murphy Oil has assets in the Eagle Ford and Gulf Coast onshore regions, as well as interests in the Gulf of Mexico. In Canada, the company operates in Western Canadian plays, including the Tupper Montney area.

Murphy Oil was incorporated in 1950 and has historically pursued exploration and production opportunities in several international markets in addition to North America.