KeyCorp Weighs in on Murphy Oil’s Q1 Earnings (NYSE:MUR)

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) – Investment analysts at KeyCorp lifted their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Murphy Oil in a report released on Wednesday, April 1st. KeyCorp analyst T. Rezvan now forecasts that the oil and gas producer will post earnings per share of $0.47 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.32. KeyCorp has a “Sector Weight” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Murphy Oil’s current full-year earnings is $2.94 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Murphy Oil’s Q2 2026 earnings at $1.50 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.29 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.43 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $4.69 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.40 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $1.30 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $1.12 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $1.38 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $5.20 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MUR. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Murphy Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $33.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Murphy Oil from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $29.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.36.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR traded up $1.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.83. The company had a trading volume of 816,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,722,047. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 59.49 and a beta of 0.59. Murphy Oil has a twelve month low of $18.94 and a twelve month high of $43.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.00.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.90 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.35 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted 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 worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares during the last quarter. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,222,049.14. This trade represents a 56.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 194.44%.

More Murphy Oil News

Here are the key news stories impacting Murphy Oil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised earnings estimates sharply across multiple quarters and years — including raising FY2026 to $4.69 (from $1.59) and FY2027 to $5.20 (from $2.51) and boosting several quarterly EPS forecasts. These upgrades materially lift forward earnings expectations and likely underlie part of the upward move. (KeyCorp maintained a “Sector Weight” rating.)
• Positive Sentiment: Murphy declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.35 per share (record date May 18, payable June 1), supporting income-focused investors and reinforcing shareholder return visibility. This adds a yield cushion alongside revised earnings outlooks.
• Neutral Sentiment: Other industry news (unrelated company) on refining technology could influence broader sector sentiment but does not directly affect Murphy Oil’s fundamentals. Read More.

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.