Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Upgraded at Johnson Rice

Johnson Rice upgraded shares of Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) from a hold rating to an accumulate rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Murphy Oil from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $29.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.36.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $42.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.36 and a beta of 0.72. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $18.94 and a 12 month high of $42.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.31.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.73% and a net margin of 3.83%.The company had revenue of $613.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 194.44%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In related news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total transaction of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,049.14. The trade was a 56.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 11,091 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 45,662 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after buying an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,893 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.