Brokerages Set Magnolia Oil & Gas Co. (NYSE:MGY) Price Target at $27.77

Magnolia Oil & Gas Co. (NYSE:MGY) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.77.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price target (down from $29.00) on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Williams Trading set a $29.00 target price on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Johnson Rice downgraded Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Magnolia Oil & Gas from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Price Performance

Shares of MGY stock opened at $25.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.08. Magnolia Oil & Gas has a one year low of $21.63 and a one year high of $29.02. The firm has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.90.

Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $326.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.40 million. Magnolia Oil & Gas had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 27.82%. On average, analysts expect that Magnolia Oil & Gas will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. This is a boost from Magnolia Oil & Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Magnolia Oil & Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher G. Stavros acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $22.05 per share, for a total transaction of $55,125.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 892,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,676,802.60. This trade represents a 0.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Magnolia Oil & Gas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 15,410,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,297,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038,709 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Magnolia Oil & Gas in the 3rd quarter valued at $18,120,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,396,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,559,000 after buying an additional 667,973 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 62.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,653,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,383,000 after buying an additional 636,049 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas during the fourth quarter worth $13,634,000. Institutional investors own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

About Magnolia Oil & Gas

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp. engages in the acquisition, development, exploration, and production of oil and natural gas properties. It operates assets located in the Eagle Ford Shale and Austin Chalk formations in South Texas. The company was founded on February 14, 2017 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.