There are no safe havens in the stock market. Every stock carries risk. But some less than others. This column features stocks that have shown one or more of the following characteristics: less volatility, better earnings, larger market caps, safe and increasing dividends. In these times of turmoil, our goal is to show readers better opportunities for investing with fewer risks.

December 12, 2011 - Murphy Oil Corporation, (MUR-NYSE) through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas properties worldwide. The company explores for and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. It also refines and markets crude oil and other feedstocks into petroleum products, such as gasoline and distillates, as well as buys and sells crude oil and refined products; and transports and markets petroleum products.

Murphy is morphing. It's getting out of the refining business. On October 1, it sold two of its U.S. refineriers in Wisconsin and Louisiana and their related assets for $960 million. A facility in the U.K. will most likely be sold next. It might take a while since the market for refineries is currently soft.

Management is taking the money from the refinery sales and paying down debt even though long term debt is only 10% of the balance sheet. Expect even further debt reductions as the company strengthens its debt to capital ratio. Maybe management believes interest rates are about to move up and wants to keep interest expense at a minimum. Or maybe it wants to appeal to more conservative investors who want a position in the oil business but don't want a highly leveraged company.

Though the dividend is nothing to get excited about ($1.10 for a 2% yield), it is certainly secure. The annual payout (which has gone up every year since 2000 when it was 36 cents a share) is $1.10 (up from $1.05 in 2010). Earnings this year should be $6.15 so investors know they'll get paid. To further bolster dividend confidence, MUR has a strong cash flow. The company has an A+ for Financial Strength.

Earnings were $4.13 in 2010, up from $3.85 in 2009. This year, 10 analysts have a consensus estimate of $6.15, then see $5.81 in 2012 (with a range of $4.10 to $7.55). Fourth quarter earnings are expected to be $1.43 (vs 90 cents last year in the fourth).

Third quarter results give an indication of how well the company is doing. Earnings went to $1.73 compared to $1.05 last year in the third (up 65%) (excluding discontinued operations). Revenues gained by 19% to $7.24 billion. The main reason: energy prices were higher. Expect more gains as the company ramps up its shale oil production through exploration projects in British Columbia (the Montney Formation) and Texas (the Eagle Ford shale field). The company also updated its rigs at the Kikeh Field which is an offshore deepwater project in Sabah, Malaysia.

- Essential numbers:

- Trailing P/E: 8.85
- Price to sales ratio: .36
- Price to book ratio: 1.19
- Operating margin: 5.84%
- Profit margin: 3.92%
- Return on equity: 12.13%
- Return on assets: 7.39%
- Total cash: $1.77 billion
- Cash per share: $9.16
- Total debt: $1.35 billion
- Total debt to equity: 15.14%
- Current ratio: 1.29
- Book value per share: $45.93
- 52 week change: -23.31%
- Shares Outstanding: 193.52 million
- Float: 180.15 million
- Held by insiders: 7.7%
- Held by institutions: 78.6%
- Dividend: $1.10
- Yield: 2.0%

Conservative investors who think the price of oil will stabilize or go higher should like this stock. It's well below the all-time high of $101.50 set in 2008, even much lower than the $78.20 from earlier this year. The company is transitioning but as it does, it's growing more profitable. If the price of oil keeps going up, expect the analysts to raise their estimates on MUR.

- Company Web site: www.murphyoilcorp.com