Capital One Financial Equities Analysts Decrease Earnings Estimates for Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO)

Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) – Analysts at Capital One Financial cut their Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Marathon Oil in a research note issued on Thursday, April 11th. Capital One Financial analyst P. Johnston now forecasts that the oil and gas producer will earn $0.46 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.52. The consensus estimate for Marathon Oil’s current full-year earnings is $2.62 per share. Capital One Financial also issued estimates for Marathon Oil’s Q2 2024 earnings at $0.69 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.77 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $0.81 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $2.74 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $3.11 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Benchmark increased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.61.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

MRO stock opened at $29.09 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $16.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $25.69 and a 200-day moving average of $25.29. Marathon Oil has a 12-month low of $21.63 and a 12-month high of $30.06.

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

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 given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total value of $997,999.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 140,829 shares in the company, valued at $3,893,921.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Marathon Oil news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was 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 $3,893,921.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 51,389 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.59, for a total value of $1,417,822.51. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 114,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,168,104.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 281,332 shares of company stock worth $7,644,903. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Oil

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,341,531 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,213,856,000 after buying an additional 392,821 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 51.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,988,152 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $748,683,000 after buying an additional 9,504,754 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 19,388,560 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $468,428,000 after buying an additional 3,795,020 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 22.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $315,584,000 after buying an additional 2,176,062 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 1,220.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,754,588 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $219,828,000 after buying an additional 8,091,570 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Company Profile

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.