StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO)

Analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) in a report issued on Thursday. The firm set a “buy” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Scotiabank cut Marathon Oil from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.81.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MRO opened at $28.72 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.22. Marathon Oil has a twelve month low of $21.81 and a twelve month high of $30.06. The stock has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 21.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Marathon Oil will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Oil

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,146,794,000 after buying an additional 6,835,604 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $468,428,000 after buying an additional 3,795,020 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position 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 worth $197,801,000 after buying an additional 556,566 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,850,613 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $165,806,000 after buying an additional 825,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,136,561 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $124,099,000 after buying an additional 18,125 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by 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.