Murphy Oil’s (MUR) Underweight Rating Reiterated at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed their underweight rating on shares of Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) in a research report report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $37.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

MUR has been the subject of several other research reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Murphy Oil from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.42.

Murphy Oil Price Performance

MUR stock opened at $29.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.33. The company has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57 and a beta of 2.17. Murphy Oil has a 52-week low of $27.75 and a 52-week high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.74 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 9.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. Research analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MUR. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 266.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 106.5% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 90.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,758 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.