Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target Lowered to $36.00 at Scotiabank

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective reduced by Scotiabank from $47.00 to $36.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued 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 $41.54.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

MUR stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $35.74. The company had a trading volume of 69,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,677,218. The firm has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a PE ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 2.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $32.53 and a 12 month high of $49.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.49.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $802.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Duality Advisers LP raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 364.6% during the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 113,451 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,185,000 after buying an additional 89,032 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 138.8% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 29,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after buying an additional 17,265 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 280.0% during the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 72,200 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,080,000 after buying an additional 53,201 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,642 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 1st quarter valued at $1,022,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

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.