Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.33.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MUR. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy Oil news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3,191.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,627,268 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $54,904,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,831 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,008,000 after acquiring an additional 837,282 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 399.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,012,944 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $34,177,000 after acquiring an additional 810,104 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 108.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,529,528 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $46,284,000 after acquiring an additional 794,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 886,485.1% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 594,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $17,976,000 after purchasing an additional 593,945 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of MUR stock opened at $28.30 on Friday. Murphy Oil has a fifty-two week low of $25.26 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 2.14. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.94.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.59%. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 44.61%.

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.