Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Share Price Crosses Below 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $36.86 and traded as low as $35.38. Murphy Oil shares last traded at $35.9580, with a volume of 2,395,649 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered shares of Murphy Oil from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $38.00 to $34.00 in a report on Friday, August 14th. Seaport Research Partners started coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $41.00 price target for the company. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.75.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80 and a beta of 0.52. 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 50 day simple moving average of $38.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.86.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.17. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 6.63%. The company had revenue of $849.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $781.53 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.31%.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the second quarter worth $2,065,000. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at $15,852,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,719,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,789,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the 1st quarter valued at $1,745,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

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, with a focus on high-quality assets in North America.

The company’s operations are primarily located in the United States, including onshore assets in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas and offshore properties in the Gulf of Mexico. Murphy Oil has also historically maintained exploration and production interests in Canada and other international regions, although its current portfolio is concentrated in the United States.

Founded in 1950, Murphy Oil has evolved from a diversified energy company into a focused exploration and production business.