Willis Investment Counsel Buys 1,780 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Willis Investment Counsel lifted its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 246,879 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,780 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $7,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MUR. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 36,892 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 5,068 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Murphy Oil by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,140 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Murphy Oil by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 38,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,600,000 after buying an additional 1,609 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 92.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 3,005 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in Murphy Oil by 106.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 758 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR opened at $26.57 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $30.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.78. Murphy Oil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $26.47 and a fifty-two week high of $49.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on MUR shares. Mizuho dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.83.

Murphy Oil 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.