Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $32.53 and last traded at $32.72, with a volume of 109740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MUR. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $46.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target 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. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.17.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 0.6 %

The company has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 2.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.32%. The company had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $813.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth $42,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 106.5% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 90.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,758 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.