Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,430,000 shares, a decrease of 12.6% from the May 31st total of 7,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days. Currently, 4.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,943 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 22,812 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 2,387 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,990 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 19,512 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 8,167 shares during the period. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group purchased a new stake in Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter worth $214,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of MUR opened at $41.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 2.26. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.06. Murphy Oil has a fifty-two week low of $36.34 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $794.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.94 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 11.75%. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. Analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.43%.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

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.