Analysts Offer Predictions for Marathon Oil FY2024 Earnings

Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Marathon Oil in a research note issued on Tuesday, November 19th. Zacks Research analyst N. Choudhury now expects that the oil and gas producer will post earnings of $2.32 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $2.37. The consensus estimate for Marathon Oil’s current full-year earnings is $2.34 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Marathon Oil’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.50 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.52 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.50 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.57 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.50 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.09 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.38 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.42 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $1.73 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Marathon Oil from $27.61 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Marathon Oil from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MRO opened at $28.47 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.62. 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 $15.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 19.73%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Oil

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 15.0% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 172,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,882,000 after purchasing an additional 22,526 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Oil by 10.2% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,727,190 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $392,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,369 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,673,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in Marathon Oil by 70.0% during the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 68,864 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after buying an additional 28,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Marathon Oil by 25.3% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,839,607 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $52,134,000 after buying an additional 371,642 shares during the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Oil

In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total transaction of $7,459,100.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares in the company, valued at $17,335,313.10. The trade was a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of Marathon Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total value of $1,040,950.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 104,735 shares in the company, valued at $3,020,557.40. This represents a 25.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 382,693 shares of company stock worth $10,964,251. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

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.