Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target Cut to $22.00 by Analysts at Scotiabank

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective decreased by Scotiabank from $36.00 to $22.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Truist Financial downgraded Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.15.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $20.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil has a twelve month low of $18.95 and a twelve month high of $48.64.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (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 business posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 48.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. The trade was a 5.67 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu purchased 1,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 37,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 16.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,988 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,619,000 after purchasing an additional 6,728 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 23,282 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $786,000 after buying an additional 1,618 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 399.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,012,944 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $34,177,000 after buying an additional 810,104 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth about $238,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,548,711 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $119,755,000 after acquiring an additional 45,432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

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.