Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.27 EPS

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) released its earnings results on Thursday. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.27), RTT News reports. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 14.78%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share.

Murphy Oil Stock Down 6.2 %

Shares of MUR stock traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $27.36. 2,250,598 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,165,998. The firm has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $30.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.05. Murphy Oil has a 1 year low of $27.20 and a 1 year high of $49.14.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. This is a boost from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 38.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MUR shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.08.

About Murphy Oil

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.