Marathon Oil’s (MRO) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Benchmark reiterated their buy rating on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $32.00 target price on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $32.66.

Marathon Oil Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MRO opened at $27.82 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Marathon Oil has a 52 week low of $21.63 and a 52 week high of $30.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 2.22.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 23.20% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Oil

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Marathon Oil by 51.4% during 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 lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 24.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,795,020 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 22.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,797,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $315,584,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,062 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,186,365 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $197,801,000 after purchasing an additional 556,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.3% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,485,704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $173,493,000 after purchasing an additional 550,473 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.