Murphy Oil Surpasses Q2 Earnings Expectations, Repurchases $56M Of Stock

Murphy Oil Corp MUR shares reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 81 cents. That’s higher than the 79 cents it reported a year ago, beating the consensus of 74 cents.

Revenues of $802.77 million beat the consensus of $813.46 million. Production averaged 181 MBOEPD, comprising oil volumes of 91 MBOPD in the quarter.  

The Houston, Texas-based company boasts a record gross production rate of 496 million cubic feet per day at Tupper Montney.

Onshore production surpassed guidance by 5.4 MBOEPD. It compensated for 2.4 MBOEPD of unplanned downtime in the Gulf of Mexico and 2.4 MBOEPD of extra downtime at Terra Nova.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization, and exploration expenses (EBITDAX) stood at $438.3 million, down from $484.5 million a year ago. 

Accrued capital expenditures for the second quarter stood at $292 million, excluding NCI. As of June 30, Murphy had about $1.1 billion in liquidity, including $334 million in cash and cash equivalents and no borrowings on its $800 million senior unsecured credit facility.

Dividend: The company disclosed a quarterly cash dividend of 30 cents per share, payable on Sept. 3, 2024, to stockholders of record as of Aug. 19, 2024.

Buyback: In Q2, Murphy repurchased $56 million of stock (1.4 million shares). It also repurchased an additional $44 million of stock (1.1 million shares).

The board of directors also raised the share repurchase authorization by $500 million. As of Aug. 7, the company has $800 million left under its share repurchase authorization.

Q3 FY24 Outlook: Murphy expects net production of 181.5 to 189.5 MBOEPD, with 91.5 MBOPD of oil volumes.

FY24 Outlook: Murphy maintains a total net production of 180 to 188 MBOEPD and capital expenditure of $920 million to $1.02 billion.

Murphy Oil CEO Roger W. Jenkins said the company “generated ample cash flow” to fund its operations and repurchase more than $50 million of stock and $50 million of long-term debt.

"Further, I am excited to announce today that we are moving into Murphy 3.0 of our capital allocation framework so that we may increase our shareholder returns primarily through share repurchases, while remaining focused on achieving our $1.0 billion total long-term debt goal."

Investors can gain exposure to the stock via Harbor ETF Trust Harbor AlphaEdge Small Cap Earners ETF EBIT and Vanguard Russell 2000 Value ETF VTWV.

Price Action: MUR shares are up 3.16% at $37.87 premarket at the last check Thursday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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