Scotiabank Trims Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Target Price to $27.61

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) had its price target reduced by Scotiabank from $29.00 to $27.61 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on MRO. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an equal weight rating and issued a $29.00 target price (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Marathon Oil in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Sunday, August 11th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $32.40.

Marathon Oil Stock Up 1.9 %

MRO stock opened at $28.17 on Monday. Marathon Oil has a one year low of $21.81 and a one year high of $30.06. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 22.12% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Oil will post 2.8 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 9.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,751,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,146,794,000 after purchasing an additional 6,835,604 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 3,795,020 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil during the second quarter worth $64,061,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Oil during the second quarter worth $63,556,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Oil by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,369,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $383,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,210 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.