Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Receives “Buy” Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $32.00 price objective on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on MRO. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Raymond James reduced their target price 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. Mizuho increased their price target on Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com raised Marathon Oil from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Oil has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $32.61.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Marathon Oil stock traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.71. The stock had a trading volume of 10,209,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,752,631. Marathon Oil has a one year low of $21.81 and a one year high of $30.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 2.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.03 and its 200 day moving average is $25.38.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 21.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Oil will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Oil news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,757,459.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 51,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.59, for a total transaction of $1,417,822.51. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 114,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,168,104.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 176,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,757,459.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 281,332 shares of company stock worth $7,644,903. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MRO. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 51.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,988,152 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $748,683,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,754 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in Marathon Oil by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 19,388,560 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $468,428,000 after buying an additional 3,795,020 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Marathon Oil by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $315,584,000 after buying an additional 2,176,062 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Marathon Oil by 127.3% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,527,604 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $61,067,000 after buying an additional 1,415,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Korea Investment CORP increased its position in Marathon Oil by 787.1% during the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 1,475,267 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $39,463,000 after buying an additional 1,308,965 shares in 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.