A number of firms have modified their ratings and price targets on shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) recently:

  • Marathon Oil was upgraded by analysts at Global Hunter Securities from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a $40.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $35.00.
  • Marathon Oil had its price target raised by analysts at Credit Suisse from $37.00 to $40.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock. They wrote, “Delivery in the Eagle Ford is allowing MRO to extend 5-7% pa growth through 2017 and adding to NAV. We raise our TP to $40/sh (from $37/sh) with additional NAV upside depending on downspacing in the Eagle Ford and in presalt Gabon exploration (worth up to $10/sh unrisked).”
  • Marathon Oil had its price target raised by analysts at Societe Generale to $36.00. They wrote, “MRO increased its 2012 volume growth target 2% helped by strong Eagle Ford results and had flat sequential unit costs. Even removing the Paloma acquisition, MRO grew sequential Eagle ford output 66% and demonstrated strong liquids output with the Burrow 2-H 24 hour IP of 6,275 BOE/d. Not every wildcat will work (Innsbruck is still drilling but has yet to find hydrocarbons), but by having an ‘option portfolio’ in Kenya, Ethiopia, GOM, and Iraq, MRO can offer shareholders asset value growth beyond NA exploitation.”
  • Marathon Oil had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Macquarie. They now have a $34.00 price target on the stock.
  • Marathon Oil was upgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating. They now have a $35.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $30.00. They wrote, “We are upgrading MRO from Neutral to Overweight and are increasing our YE2013 price target to $35/share, implying potential upside of 17%, compared with the group offering potential upside of 37%, on average. Although the potential upside lags the peers, we believe the MRO story is on a faster track to a turn in investor sentiment, as improving results in the Eagle Ford and Bakken underpin a loftier near-term production growth outlook, a potential sale of the company’s oil sands mining operations could unlock additional value above our current price target, and an exploration program could serve as a source of unexpected share price catalysts through the end of 2013.”

Marathon Oil Co. traded down 0.23% on Tuesday, hitting $30.16. Marathon Oil Co. has a 1-year low of $23.17 and a 1-year high of $35.49. The company has a market cap of $21.306 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85.

Marathon Oil Corporation (Marathon Oil) is an international energy company engaged in exploration and production, oil sands mining and integrated gas with operations in the United States, Angola, Canada, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Libya, Norway, Poland and the United Kingdom.