24,574 Shares in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Acquired by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 24,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,013,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $389,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 845,282 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $34,859,000 after acquiring an additional 27,106 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,269,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SIR Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 128.9% during the 2nd quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 204,600 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $8,438,000 after acquiring an additional 115,200 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $33.91 on Friday. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $33.15 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The company has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 2.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.43.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Murphy Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.18.

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.