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

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a research report report published on Friday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

MRO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group dropped 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. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lowered their price target on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $28.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 2.16. Marathon Oil has a 1-year low of $21.81 and a 1-year high of $30.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.57.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. Marathon Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Oil news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,750,000. The trade was a 34.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,489.88. This represents a 33.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Oil

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Marathon Oil by 1,444.1% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 266,970 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,109,000 after purchasing an additional 249,680 shares in the last quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC now owns 9,206 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 40,752 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 8.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,490,171 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,683,000 after acquiring an additional 120,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Marathon Oil by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 273,434 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

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.