Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Given Buy Rating at Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $32.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on MRO. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Argus upgraded shares of Marathon Oil from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an overweight rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $32.66.

Marathon Oil Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE MRO opened at $27.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.90 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.44 and a 200 day moving average of $25.40. Marathon Oil has a 1 year low of $21.63 and a 1 year high of $30.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 23.20% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Marathon Oil will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.19%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total transaction of $997,999.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 140,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,893,921.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total transaction of $997,999.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 140,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,893,921.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 80,647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total transaction of $2,172,630.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,065,130.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 281,332 shares of company stock valued at $7,644,903. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Oil

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 51.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,988,152 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $748,683,000 after buying an additional 9,504,754 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,795,020 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $315,584,000 after buying an additional 2,176,062 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,186,365 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $197,801,000 after buying an additional 556,566 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,485,704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $173,493,000 after buying an additional 550,473 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.