Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Trading 7.2% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) was up 7.2% on Tuesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $23.00. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Murphy Oil traded as high as $25.32 and last traded at $25.57. Approximately 558,327 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 2,353,599 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.84.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Roth Capital lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Johnson Rice lowered shares of Murphy Oil from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $36.00 to $22.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.15.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 0.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,974,008 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $226,461,000 after purchasing an additional 35,826 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 210.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,610,766 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $159,346,000 after purchasing an additional 3,805,565 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 72.9% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 4,812,267 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $136,668,000 after buying an additional 2,029,685 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 29.4% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,633,023 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $103,178,000 after buying an additional 825,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Murphy Oil by 3.6% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,052,273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $86,685,000 after purchasing an additional 106,720 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 7.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.40.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $665.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $684.89 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The company’s revenue was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.