Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after Mizuho lowered their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $45.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Murphy Oil traded as low as $29.66 and last traded at $29.90, with a volume of 86647 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.29.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Murphy Oil by 266.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 106.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.74 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. The firm’s revenue was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.71%.

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.