Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.87% and a net margin of 19.73%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MRO traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $28.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,269,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,045,189. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.53. Marathon Oil has a 52 week low of $21.81 and a 52 week high of $30.06. The company has a market capitalization of $15.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is 18.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Oil news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,750,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho decreased 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. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Nine equities 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.12.

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.