Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) – Piper Jaffray Companies cut their FY2019 EPS estimates for Murphy Oil in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, May 14th, according to Zacks Investment Research. Piper Jaffray Companies analyst R. Todd now expects that the oil and gas producer will post earnings of $1.07 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $1.10. Piper Jaffray Companies also issued estimates for Murphy Oil’s Q4 2019 earnings at $0.47 EPS, Q1 2020 earnings at $0.44 EPS, Q2 2020 earnings at $0.35 EPS, Q3 2020 earnings at $0.32 EPS, Q4 2020 earnings at $0.29 EPS and FY2020 earnings at $1.29 EPS.
A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $23.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Murphy Oil from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $31.50 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Credit Suisse Group set a $31.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 14th. Finally, ValuEngine cut shares of Murphy Oil from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.50.
Shares of Murphy Oil stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $23.94. The stock had a trading volume of 2,906,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,193,414. The company has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.61. Murphy Oil has a twelve month low of $21.51 and a twelve month high of $36.53.
Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $591.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $557.15 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 4.10%. The company’s revenue was up 57.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. QS Investors LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. QS Investors LLC now owns 43,660 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 30,923 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $906,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 107,892 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,524,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 43,600 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 54,738 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the period. 85.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
In related news, insider Thomas J. Mireles sold 7,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.60, for a total transaction of $204,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $589,756.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP John B. Gardner sold 8,364 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.94, for a total transaction of $242,054.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.37%.
About Murphy Oil
Murphy Oil Corporation operates as an oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States, Canada, Malaysia, 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.