Poplar Forest Capital LLC Acquires 4,504 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC grew its position in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 334,433 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 4,504 shares during the period. Murphy Oil accounts for about 1.9% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $13,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in Murphy Oil by 47.7% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 721 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Murphy Oil by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in Murphy Oil by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,629,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. raised its position in Murphy Oil by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 6,940 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MUR shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.91.

Murphy Oil Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of MUR stock traded down $0.61 on Friday, hitting $34.58. 2,382,955 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,640,686. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 9.63 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil Co. has a twelve month low of $34.48 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $38.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $802.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. Murphy Oil’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.43%.

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.