Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $39.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $41.00 to $39.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MUR. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set a peer perform rating for the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Murphy Oil from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $43.64.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $33.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 2.21. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.94. Murphy Oil has a 52-week low of $32.53 and a 52-week high of $49.14.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $802.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 47.7% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 721 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Murphy Oil by 27.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. 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.