Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.11

Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.11 per share by the oil and gas producer on Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th.

Marathon Oil has raised its dividend payment by an average of 72.4% annually over the last three years. Marathon Oil has a payout ratio of 19.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Marathon Oil to earn $2.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.2%.

Marathon Oil Stock Performance

NYSE:MRO opened at $28.62 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.53. 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 has a 52 week low of $21.81 and a 52 week high of $30.06. The company has a market cap of $16.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 2.16.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Oil will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Marathon Oil

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRO. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Marathon Oil in a report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Oil from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Marathon Oil from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Oil presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.12.

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.