Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on MUR. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seaport Research Partners started coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Barclays downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $34.00 in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.92.

Get Our Latest Analysis on MUR

Murphy Oil Stock Up 4.7%

MUR opened at $41.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.38. Murphy Oil has a twelve month low of $26.49 and a twelve month high of $43.34.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 6.63%. The company had revenue of $926.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $888.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 3.65 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MUR. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,065,000. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at $15,852,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,719,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 2nd quarter worth $5,789,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth $1,745,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Its activities include identifying, acquiring, developing and producing crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

The company’s current operations are concentrated in the United States and Canada. In the United States, Murphy Oil has assets in the Eagle Ford and Gulf Coast onshore regions, as well as interests in the Gulf of Mexico. In Canada, the company operates in Western Canadian plays, including the Tupper Montney area.

Murphy Oil was incorporated in 1950 and has historically pursued exploration and production opportunities in several international markets in addition to North America.

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