Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MRO. Truist Financial decreased their price objective 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. Benchmark reissued a buy rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Scotiabank lowered shares of Marathon Oil from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $26.50 to $30.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $31.81.

Marathon Oil Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE MRO opened at $28.72 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.23. Marathon Oil has a one year low of $21.81 and a one year high of $30.06. The company has a market capitalization of $16.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 2.19. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Marathon Oil’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Marathon Oil will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Oil by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 558,285 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,934,000 after buying an additional 74,986 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 410,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $9,947,000 after purchasing an additional 16,486 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 54.0% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 2,493 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 874 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in Marathon Oil by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 20,390 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,405 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.