Analysts Set Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Target Price at $32.86

Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.86.

MRO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Oil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,146,794,000 after purchasing an additional 6,835,604 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 19,388,560 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $468,428,000 after buying an additional 3,795,020 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 22.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $315,584,000 after buying an additional 2,176,062 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,186,365 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $197,801,000 after buying an additional 556,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 16.4% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,850,613 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $165,806,000 after buying an additional 825,813 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 0.5 %

MRO opened at $28.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55. Marathon Oil has a twelve month low of $21.81 and a twelve month high of $30.06. The firm has a market cap of $16.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 2.19.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.18%.

Marathon Oil Company Profile

Marathon Oil Corporation, an independent exploration and production company, engages in exploration, production, and marketing of crude oil and condensate, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in the United States and internationally. The company also produces and markets products manufactured from natural gas, such as liquefied natural gas and methanol.