Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the sixteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.3333.

MUR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 4.0%

MUR stock opened at $38.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 65.74 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Murphy Oil has a twelve month low of $21.86 and a twelve month high of $43.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $36.33 and its 200-day moving average is $35.84.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.09% and a net margin of 3.02%.The business had revenue of $732.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. Murphy Oil’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 13,404 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 2,313 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,836,056 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,737,000 after buying an additional 60,190 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth about $599,000. Bull Harbor Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil during the first quarter worth about $244,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 32.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.