Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Stock Price

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $35.00 to $30.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price suggests a potential upside of 30.72% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.23.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $22.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.78. 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 has a twelve month low of $18.95 and a twelve month high of $43.98.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 194.1% during the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 22,663 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 14,957 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 204,053 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,795,000 after acquiring an additional 3,237 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. grew its position in Murphy Oil by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 57,506 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 3,422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Old West Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 1st quarter valued at $2,840,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.