Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Sets New 52-Week Low at $33.50

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $33.50 and last traded at $33.53, with a volume of 293190 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on MUR shares. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Scotiabank cut Murphy Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Murphy Oil in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.91.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $38.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.58. The company has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.62 and a beta of 2.21. 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 (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Murphy Oil’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,861,968 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $335,397,000 after purchasing an additional 207,547 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP lifted its position 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 worth $5,185,000 after buying an additional 89,032 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $1,357,000 after buying an additional 17,265 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC lifted its position 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 worth $3,080,000 after buying an additional 53,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth about $16,349,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

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.