Murphy Oil Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.33 (NYSE:MUR)

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 2nd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of 0.325 per share by the oil and gas producer on Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.45%.

Murphy Oil has raised its dividend payment by an average of 33.9% per year over the last three years. Murphy Oil has a dividend payout ratio of 33.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Murphy Oil to earn $3.70 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 35.1%.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $29.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 2.18. Murphy Oil has a 52 week low of $22.90 and a 52 week high of $49.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $27.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earned $0.90 EPS. Analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price objective on Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.92.

About Murphy Oil

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.