Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 108,672 Shares of Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Murphy Oil Co. (NYSE:MUR) by 138.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 187,085 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 108,672 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $6,312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 266.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Murphy Oil by 1,015.7% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy Oil in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 106.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MUR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Murphy Oil from $47.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Murphy Oil from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.92.

Murphy Oil Trading Up 0.8 %

MUR opened at $33.40 on Friday. Murphy Oil Co. has a one year low of $30.99 and a one year high of $49.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 2.21.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $758.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $759.74 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 9.22%. Murphy Oil’s revenue was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. Analysts predict that Murphy Oil Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Murphy Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is 38.71%.

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.