Murphy Oil Co. (MUR) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 18th

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.325 per share by the oil and gas producer on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Murphy Oil has increased its dividend by an average of 33.9% annually over the last three years. Murphy Oil has a payout ratio of 32.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Murphy Oil to earn $3.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.7%.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 1.3 %

Murphy Oil stock opened at $28.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 2.14. Murphy Oil has a 12-month low of $25.26 and a 12-month high of $49.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $29.76 and its 200 day moving average is $32.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought 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 owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on MUR shares. Mizuho cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.33.

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.