Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Receives $38.58 Average Price Target from Analysts

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.5833.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho increased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE MUR opened at $36.84 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Murphy Oil has a 1 year low of $21.86 and a 1 year high of $43.34. The firm has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 62.44 and a beta of 0.52.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $732.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $702.96 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.02% and a return on equity of 3.09%. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 10,954 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 2.6% during the first quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,118 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 11,091 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Murphy Oil by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 45,662 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

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.