Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.94.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRO. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total value of $7,459,100.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,335,313.10. The trade was a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total value of $1,040,950.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 104,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,020,557.40. The trade was a 25.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Highbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil in the third quarter worth $36,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Marathon Oil in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Oil during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 77.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRO opened at $28.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Marathon Oil has a 1 year low of $21.81 and a 1 year high of $30.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 2.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.88.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Marathon Oil will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

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.