Royce & Associates LP Acquires New Stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,810 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Murphy Oil by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth $113,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter worth $188,000. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $26.73 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.88 and a 200 day moving average of $30.98. Murphy Oil Co. has a 12 month low of $22.90 and a 12 month high of $49.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 2.18. 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 earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS 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 previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy Oil Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,323,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 931,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,660,801.97. This represents a 5.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Meenambigai Palanivelu acquired 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.70 per share, with a total value of $41,999.10. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 37,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,635.50. This trade represents a 4.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MUR. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Truist Financial downgraded Murphy Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays cut their target price on Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.31.

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.