Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Trading Down 5.2% on Analyst Downgrade

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)’s share price traded down 5.2% during trading on Tuesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $28.00 to $23.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Murphy Oil traded as low as $20.65 and last traded at $20.34. 1,298,556 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 1,945,398 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.46.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MUR. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 342.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 177.8% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,725 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.31. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.42%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

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.