Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Johnson Rice upgraded the stock from a hold rating to an accumulate rating. The stock traded as high as $39.94 and last traded at $39.8050, with a volume of 793893 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.62.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on MUR. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total transaction of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,222,049.14. This trade represents a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 717 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 437.8% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 3.1%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.29 and a beta of 0.72.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.21. The business had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $650.90 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 3.73%. Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 194.44%.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.