Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on MUR. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on Murphy Oil from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays increased their price target on Murphy Oil from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Murphy Oil from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Murphy Oil from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $28.25.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR opened at $28.70 on Friday. Murphy Oil has a 52-week low of $18.94 and a 52-week high of $34.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.87 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.40.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 21st. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $440.08 million for the quarter. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 5.25% and a net margin of 10.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3,989.7% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,186 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,710.9% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,666 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 246.6% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,747 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,243 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 148.1% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 494.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,786 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.