Short Interest in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) Increases By 19.8%

Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 19,530,000 shares, a growth of 19.8% from the February 13th total of 16,300,000 shares. Currently, 14.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MUR shares. Roth Capital set a $37.00 price target on Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.31.

Insider Transactions at Murphy Oil

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUR. Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 342.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 828 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 471 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,284 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUR traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $27.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 716,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,766,856. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 2.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.14 and a 200 day moving average of $31.08. Murphy Oil has a twelve month low of $22.90 and a twelve month high of $49.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.27). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.81%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 48.33%.

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.