SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 32.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 122,420 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,689 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.09% of Murphy Oil worth $3,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 67.3% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 437.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares during the period. Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 5,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 69.4% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,326 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 2,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth approximately $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,049.14. This represents a 56.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $41.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.73. Murphy Oil Corporation has a twelve month low of $18.94 and a twelve month high of $42.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a PE ratio of 57.00 and a beta of 0.59.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.73%. The company had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $650.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 194.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Murphy Oil from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.36.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.