Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Trading Up 4.8% – Time to Buy?

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)’s stock price traded up 4.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $21.21 and last traded at $21.09. 837,272 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 3,155,339 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Capital set a $37.00 target price on Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.77.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $25.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 6.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 48.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

In other news, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $1,323,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 931,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. This trade represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,807,277 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $84,948,000 after purchasing an additional 114,656 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,234,585 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $67,619,000 after buying an additional 107,871 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 61.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,147,590 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $64,986,000 after buying an additional 821,427 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,857,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $56,214,000 after acquiring an additional 13,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,751,737 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,008,000 after acquiring an additional 837,282 shares during the period. 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.