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4 Reasons to Add Murphy Oil (MUR) to Your Portfolio Now

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Earnings estimates for Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR - Free Report) have been revised upward in the past 60 days, reflecting analysts’ optimism in the stock. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 and 2020 earnings moved up 43.2% and 10.2% to $1.49 and $2.59 per share, respectively.

Let’s focus on the factors that make Murphy Oil a profitable pick.

Earnings & Surprise History

Murphy Oil delivered first-quarter 2019 adjusted earnings of 15 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 10 cents by 50%. The company’s average four-quarter positive earnings surprise is 17.33%.

Zacks Rank & Price Movement

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Shares of Murphy Oil have gained 16.2% year to date compared with the industry’s rise of 9.5%.

Debt/Capital &Current Ratio

Murphy Oil is continuously working to preserve balance-sheet strength. Currently, the company has a current ratio of 1.61. Its financial strength will enable the company to meet near-term debt obligation. Its long-term debt-to-capital ratio is 40.19%, lower than the Zacks S&P 500 composite’s level of 42.29%.

Capital Expenditure

Murphy Oil possesses one of the best upstream portfolios among the domestic oil and natural gas integrated companies as well as independent E&P group. The company projects 2019 capital expenditures in the range of $1.15-$1.35 billion. In the first quarter, the company spent $591 million on exploration and production, up 49% from year-ago quarter’s level. Higher capital expenditures reflect increased development drilling activities.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks from the same industryare Anadarko Petroleum Corporation , Apache Corporation (APA - Free Report)    and Continental Resources, Inc , Anadarko Petroleum and Apache sport a Zacks Rank of 1, while Continental Resources holds a Zacks Rank of 2.

Anadarko Petroleum pulled off average positive earnings surprise of 6.63% in the last four quarters. The company’s long-term earnings growth is pegged at 6.50%.

Apache came up with average positive earnings surprise of 31.12% in the last four quarters. The company’s long-term earnings growth is pegged at 6%.

Continental Resources delivered average positive earnings surprise of 7.78% in the last four quarters. The company’s long-term earnings growth is pegged at 16.60%.

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