Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Position Raised by Willis Investment Counsel

Willis Investment Counsel raised its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 246,879 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,780 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel owned approximately 0.17% of Murphy Oil worth $7,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter valued at $113,000. EMC Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 628.0% during the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,008 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 6,908 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 11,467 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 3,870 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,835 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 733,874 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $22,207,000 after purchasing an additional 61,157 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.83.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $26.57 on Monday. Murphy Oil Co. has a one year low of $26.47 and a one year high of $49.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.88 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.78.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (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 period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is currently 44.61%.

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.