Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Receives $41.17 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.17.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MUR. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $46.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $31.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Murphy Oil has a 1-year low of $30.99 and a 1-year high of $49.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.83.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The company had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $813.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 113,677 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,195,000 after buying an additional 4,259 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,022,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth approximately $141,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth approximately $542,000. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

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.