Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Rating Increased to Accumulate at Johnson Rice

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) was upgraded by research analysts at Johnson Rice from a “hold” rating to an “accumulate” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.82.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $38.57 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 53.56 and a beta of 0.72. Murphy Oil has a 12 month low of $18.94 and a 12 month high of $39.60.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.21. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.73% and a net margin of 3.83%.The firm had revenue of $613.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

In other Murphy Oil news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total value of $1,598,942.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,222,049.14. The trade was a 56.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 61.8% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,495 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 8,590 shares during the last quarter. Flax Pond Capital LLC acquired a new position in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth $6,967,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at $233,000. TMB Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at $808,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Murphy Oil by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,768 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 1,873 shares during the last quarter. 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.