Mizuho Cuts Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $50.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price target lowered by Mizuho from $59.00 to $50.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on MUR. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a peer perform rating for the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $45.00.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE MUR opened at $36.02 on Monday. Murphy Oil has a 52-week low of $33.15 and a 52-week high of $49.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 2.21.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted 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 net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The business had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $813.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 33.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 47.7% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 721 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 27.0% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.