Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

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

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on MRO. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Scotiabank upped 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 dropped their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRO opened at $28.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. 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 $28.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.90. Marathon Oil has a 12 month low of $21.81 and a 12 month high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 19.73%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. Marathon Oil’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Oil will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Oil

In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total transaction of $1,040,950.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 104,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. The trade was a 25.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total transaction of $7,459,100.37. Following the completion of 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. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Oil

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 30,837 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 1,939 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 17.0% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,622 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 2,126 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 255.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 37,317 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,070,000 after buying an additional 26,822 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Marathon Oil by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 688,444 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $19,738,000 after acquiring an additional 69,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 123.2% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,186,171 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $34,008,000 after acquiring an additional 654,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

About Marathon Oil

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.