M&T Bank Corp Invests $238,000 in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,054 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,217,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 218,739 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $9,021,000 after buying an additional 38,334 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 166,316 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,859,000 after acquiring an additional 32,411 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 50.5% during the 3rd quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 307,092 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,361,000 after acquiring an additional 103,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 86.5% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 132,710 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,473,000 after acquiring an additional 61,537 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

NYSE MUR opened at $28.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $28.09 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.99.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $758.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $759.74 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 9.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MUR shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.58.

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.