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

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

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on MRO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MRO opened at $28.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.89. Marathon Oil has a fifty-two week low of $21.81 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Oil will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Oil news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total value of $1,040,950.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 104,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,020,557.40. This represents a 25.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total value of $7,459,100.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at $17,335,313.10. The trade was a 30.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Marathon Oil by 10.2% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,727,190 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $392,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,369 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,461,323 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $242,582,000 after buying an additional 328,184 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,443,713 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $184,741,000 after buying an additional 593,100 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,267,506 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $140,274,000 after acquiring an additional 19,566 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,884,151 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $76,805,000 after acquiring an additional 171,450 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.