Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $39.24, but opened at $36.58. Murphy Oil shares last traded at $36.0540, with a volume of 195,308 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MUR. Scotiabank upgraded Murphy Oil to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Murphy Oil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Johnson Rice upgraded Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to an “accumulate” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.27.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.94 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.54.

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

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 194.44%.

Insider Activity at Murphy Oil

In related news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total transaction of $1,598,942.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,222,049.14. The trade was a 56.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,933,059 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $247,912,000 after purchasing an additional 231,253 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,572,610 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $174,144,000 after purchasing an additional 143,125 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 21.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,736,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $106,163,000 after purchasing an additional 668,525 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 8.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,656,394 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $75,468,000 after acquiring an additional 204,349 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 60.0% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,119,622 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $60,218,000 after acquiring an additional 794,510 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

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.