Susquehanna Reaffirms Positive Rating for Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO)

Susquehanna reissued their positive rating on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $33.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on MRO. Truist Financial upped their target price on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays began coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an overweight rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark increased their price target on Marathon Oil from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Raymond James cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $32.66.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MRO stock opened at $27.74 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.43. Marathon Oil has a one year low of $21.63 and a one year high of $30.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 23.20%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marathon Oil will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is currently 17.19%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.89, for a total value of $1,074,766.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 176,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,757,459.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.89, for a total value of $1,074,766.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 176,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,757,459.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 51,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.59, for a total value of $1,417,822.51. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 114,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,168,104.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 281,332 shares of company stock valued at $7,644,903. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Oil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Marathon Oil by 51.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,988,152 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $748,683,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504,754 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in Marathon Oil by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 19,388,560 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $468,428,000 after acquiring an additional 3,795,020 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Marathon Oil by 22.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $315,584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,062 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Marathon Oil by 127.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,527,604 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $61,067,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415,639 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP raised its position in Marathon Oil by 787.1% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 1,475,267 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,463,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308,965 shares during the period. 77.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.