Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) shares gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $38.84, but opened at $36.64. Murphy Oil shares last traded at $36.6920, with a volume of 142,732 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Friday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Murphy Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.75.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 5.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.73 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $38.92 and its 200 day moving average is $35.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.03. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 3.02% and a return on equity of 3.09%. The firm had revenue of $732.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $702.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 237.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MUR. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 105.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,310,884 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $136,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,498 shares during the period. SIR Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,896,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at about $21,096,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,736,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $106,163,000 after purchasing an additional 668,525 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,056,427 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,423,000 after purchasing an additional 514,127 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.