Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target Lowered to $31.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $35.00 to $31.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on MUR. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their price target on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.83.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 3.3 %

NYSE MUR opened at $26.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 2.17. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $30.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $26.47 and a 12 month high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly 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 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 15.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 36,892 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Murphy Oil by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,140 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 38,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 92.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 106.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

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.