Zacks Research Increases Earnings Estimates for Marathon Oil

Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q3 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Marathon Oil in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, November 19th. Zacks Research analyst N. Choudhury now expects that the oil and gas producer will post earnings of $0.50 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.47. The consensus estimate for Marathon Oil’s current full-year earnings is $2.34 per share.

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

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.94.

Marathon Oil Stock Down 1.6 %

Marathon Oil stock opened at $28.47 on Friday. Marathon Oil has a fifty-two week low of $21.81 and a fifty-two week high of $30.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $15.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22 and a beta of 2.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.62.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Oil during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Founders Capital Management boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 100.0% in the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Highbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Oil during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 77.4% during the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Oil during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the business’s 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 owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,335,313.10. The trade was a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick Wagner sold 36,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.84, for a total value of $1,040,950.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 104,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,020,557.40. The trade was a 25.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 382,693 shares of company stock worth $10,964,251. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Dividend Announcement

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

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.