Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 23.20% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Marathon Oil Price Performance

NYSE MRO traded down $0.01 during trading on Thursday, reaching $26.09. 14,809,486 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,774,967. Marathon Oil has a 1-year low of $21.63 and a 1-year high of $30.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.44. The company has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 2.22.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRO shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Marathon Oil in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Oil from $26.50 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Marathon Oil from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.66.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

In related news, CFO Dane E. Whitehead sold 73,233 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total transaction of $1,981,684.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 152,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,113,336.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Patrick Wagner sold 39,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.89, for a total value of $1,074,766.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 176,923 shares in the company, valued at $4,757,459.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Dane E. Whitehead sold 73,233 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total transaction of $1,981,684.98. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 152,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,113,336.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 281,332 shares of company stock valued at $7,644,903 in the last 90 days. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.