Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE: MRO) Given “Neutral” Rating by Zacks Investment Research Analysts

Equities research analysts at Zacks Investment Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE: MRO) in a research note to investors on Monday. The analysts currently have a $44.00 price target on the stock.

Analyst Moutushi Saha wrote, “We are reiterating our Neutral recommendation on Marathon Oil, while raising our price target to $44 from $36. Marathon Oil is a leading integrated energy firm with a large and geographically-diverse reserve base, competitive downstream operation and solid project pipeline. Additionally, Marathon possesses a healthy balance sheet, which helps it to capitalize on investment opportunities. MRO’s proposal to split into two separate entities is expected to further enhance shareholder worth. However, the uncertain commodity-price environment currently clouds Marathon’s value and is the main factor behind our cautious stance. This will remain a major headwind over the next few quarters, in our view, offsetting most of the positives.”

Separately, analysts at Oppenheimer (NYSE: OPY) raised their price target on shares of Marathon Oil Co. from $39.00 to $52.00 in a research note to investors on Thursday, January 20th. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Marathon Oil Corporation is engaged in the exploration, production and marketing of liquid hydrocarbons and natural gas; oil sands mining and bitumen upgrading in Canada; refining, marketing and transportation of crude oil and petroleum products, and marketing and transportation of products manufactured from natural gas. The Company’s operates in four segments: exploration and production (E&P), which explores for, produces and markets liquid hydrocarbons and natural gas worldwide; Oil Sands Mining (OSM), which is engaged in mining, extraction and transportation of bitumen from oil sands deposits in Alberta, Canada, and upgrades the bitumen to produce and market synthetic crude oil and vacuum gas oil; integrated gas (IG), which markets and transports products manufactured from natural gas, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and methanol, and refining, marketing and transportation (RM&T), which refines, transports and markets crude oil and petroleum products.

Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE: MRO) traded up 1.21% during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.66. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $27.64 and a 52 week high of $44.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.73 and its 200-day moving average is $34.43. On average, analysts predict that Marathon Oil Co. will post $1.07 EPS next quarter. The company has a market cap of $30.285 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51.

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