Marathon Oil’s Solid Balance Sheet & Shareholder Returns Prompt 30% Price Target Hike By This Analyst

  • Raymond James analyst John Freeman reiterated a Strong Buy rating on the shares of Marathon Oil Corp (NYSE: MRO) and raised the price target from $37 to $48.

  • The analyst said Q3 earnings were strong for Marathon, with production out of Delaware exceeding expectations.

  • Buybacks impressed to the upside as the company paid out ~80% of operational cash flow for the quarter, he added.

  • The only miss was on capex, Marathon had to raise their guidance from $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion for the year.

  • Freeman believes Marathon remains in an excellent position to be a leader in shareholder returns, with his updated model projecting a 13% yield on buybacks and a 15% total yield when accounting for the base dividend.

  • The analyst said the company has a strong balance sheet and top-tier return strategy.

  • He thinks Marathon represented one of the few companies in his coverage with steady and rising per-share metrics, thanks to their incredibly aggressive buyback program.

  • Freeman specified that the company would build cash next year for debt reduction, further buybacks, and/or additional acquisitions.

  • Price Action: MRO shares are trading lower by 1.42% at $29.96 on the last check Monday.

Latest Ratings for MRO

Date

Firm

Action

From

To

Mar 2022

Benchmark

Downgrades

Buy

Hold

Feb 2022

Piper Sandler

Upgrades

Neutral

Overweight

Feb 2022

Raymond James

Maintains

Strong Buy

View More Analyst Ratings for MRO

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Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/marathon-oils-solid-balance-sheet-190136370.html