StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a research note issued to investors on Saturday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.61 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $31.15.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

MRO stock opened at $27.64 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $15.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil has a 52-week low of $21.81 and a 52-week high of $30.06.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.06). Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. Marathon Oil’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Oil

In other Marathon Oil news, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,489.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Oil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Marathon Oil by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,146,794,000 after acquiring an additional 6,835,604 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in Marathon Oil by 24.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,795,020 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Oil in the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,556,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Marathon Oil by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $383,313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,210 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

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.