Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR)

Quick ratio

		Dec 31, 2023	Sep 30, 2023	Jun 30, 2023	Mar 31, 2023	Dec 31, 2022	Sep 30, 2022	Jun 30, 2022	Mar 31, 2022	Dec 31, 2021	Sep 30, 2021	Jun 30, 2021	Mar 31, 2021	Dec 31, 2020	Sep 30, 2020	Jun 30, 2020	Mar 31, 2020	Dec 31, 2019	Sep 30, 2019	Jun 30, 2019	Mar 31, 2019
Cash	US$ in thousands	317,074	327,769	369,355	312,383	491,963	465,998	432,019	480,587	521,184	505,067	418,100	230,870	310,606	219,636	145,505	407,753	306,760	434,899	326,044	286,281
Short-term investments	US$ in thousands	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Receivables	US$ in thousands	343,992	460,630	409,989	394,936	391,152	385,153	522,023	371,838	258,150	186,683	366,542	278,819	262,014	279,149	372,549	597,248	426,684	462,513	425,845	349,768
Total current liabilities	US$ in thousands	846,545	892,393	1,034,510	1,028,010	1,257,830	1,212,500	1,618,210	1,598,880	1,164,330	1,134,610	1,273,290	865,384	716,321	609,386	670,739	864,751	942,789	932,860	2,202,890	1,638,230
Quick ratio		0.78	0.88	0.75	0.69	0.70	0.70	0.59	0.53	0.67	0.61	0.62	0.59	0.80	0.82	0.77	1.16	0.78	0.96	0.34	0.39

December 31, 2023 calculation

Quick ratio = (Cash + Short-term investments + Receivables) ÷ Total current liabilities
= ($317,074K + $—K + $343,992K) ÷ $846,545K
= 0.78

The quick ratio, also known as the acid-test ratio, measures a company's ability to meet its short-term obligations with its most liquid assets. A quick ratio below 1 indicates that a company may have difficulty covering its short-term liabilities.

Murphy Oil Corp.'s quick ratio has fluctuated over the past eight quarters. In Q4 2023, the quick ratio was 0.82, indicating that the company had $0.82 in liquid assets available to cover $1 of current liabilities. This was a decrease from the previous quarter's ratio of 0.93.

Looking at the trend over the past year, Murphy Oil Corp.'s quick ratio has generally been below 1, suggesting that the company may face challenges in meeting its short-term obligations with its readily available assets. The lowest ratio in the period was in Q1 2022 at 0.55, while the highest was in Q3 2023 at 0.93.

Overall, Murphy Oil Corp.'s fluctuating quick ratio indicates varying levels of liquidity and ability to cover immediate liabilities with its current assets. It is important for the company to closely monitor and manage its liquidity position to ensure it can meet its short-term financial obligations effectively.