Truist Financial Cuts Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target to $42.00

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its price target trimmed by Truist Financial from $55.00 to $42.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

MUR has been the subject of several other reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a peer perform rating for the company. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $59.00 to $50.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Murphy Oil from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $43.64.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.3 %

MUR stock opened at $34.62 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 2.21. Murphy Oil has a 52-week low of $32.53 and a 52-week high of $49.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.88.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $802.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $813.97 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Murphy Oil will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MUR. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 1,434.5% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.