Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.16 EPS

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.16, FiscalAI reports. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 4.30% and a net margin of 5.16%.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 1.3%

MUR stock traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $31.40. 4,269,796 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,776,035. Murphy Oil has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $35.19. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 32.04 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 21,038 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.1% in the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 79,717 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,308,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 6.2% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 21,472 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 84,061 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,387,000 after buying an additional 1,419 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,882 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MUR. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $29.85.

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.