Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 150,684 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 80.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 337,769 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 150,684 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.23% of Murphy Oil worth $10,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 266.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Truist Financial lowered Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu bought 1,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.70 per share, for a total transaction of $41,999.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. The trade was a 4.43 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Claiborne P. Deming purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,660,801.97. This trade represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

Murphy Oil stock opened at $26.06 on Friday. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $22.90 and a 12 month high of $49.14. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.44. The company has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 2.18.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its 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 return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.99%. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.33%.

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.