Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.94.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Oil news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,335,313.10. The trade was a 30.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Oil

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Marathon Oil during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Highbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

MRO stock opened at $28.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a PE 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.89. Marathon Oil has a fifty-two week low of $21.81 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06.

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

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

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

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.