Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.87% and a net margin of 19.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 EPS.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

NYSE MRO traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.50. The stock had a trading volume of 5,269,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,045,189. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.53. Marathon Oil has a 52-week low of $21.81 and a 52-week high of $30.06. The company has a market cap of $15.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 2.16.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.12.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In related news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,430,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,750,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Marathon Oil news, insider Dane E. Whitehead sold 52,008 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $1,430,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $1,033,980.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,090,489.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% 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.