Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a research report released on Tuesday. The firm issued a buy rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

MRO has been the subject of several other research reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. UBS Group cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a positive rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Benchmark reissued a buy rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $32.86.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $28.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 2.19. Marathon Oil has a one year low of $21.81 and a one year high of $30.06. The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.37 and its two-hundred day 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 (NYSE:MRO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. Analysts forecast that Marathon Oil will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 24.3% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 3,795,020 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $315,584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,062 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 7.3% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 556,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,850,613 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $165,806,000 after acquiring an additional 825,813 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

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.