Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Siebert Williams Shank downgraded shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Mizuho set a $30.00 target price on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a report on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Magnolia Oil & Gas from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Magnolia Oil & Gas from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.27.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Stock Up 1.5%

Magnolia Oil & Gas stock opened at $32.34 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.54. Magnolia Oil & Gas has a fifty-two week low of $19.09 and a fifty-two week high of $32.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.51.

Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Magnolia Oil & Gas had a return on equity of 16.67% and a net margin of 24.79%.The company had revenue of $317.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $322.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Magnolia Oil & Gas will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Magnolia Oil & Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Magnolia Oil & Gas’s payout ratio is presently 38.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Magnolia Oil & Gas

In other Magnolia Oil & Gas news, CFO Brian Corales sold 33,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.12, for a total value of $960,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 184,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,363,263.36. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dan F. Smith sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.01, for a total value of $522,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 119,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,458,108.04. This trade represents a 13.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 338,954 shares of company stock worth $9,911,733. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Magnolia Oil & Gas

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 55.7% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,478,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,898,000 after buying an additional 1,601,809 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 858,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,504,000 after acquiring an additional 221,920 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 912,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,781,000 after purchasing an additional 38,502 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 92.1% during the third quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 576,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,756,000 after purchasing an additional 276,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 16,251.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 626,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,960,000 after purchasing an additional 622,912 shares in the last quarter. 94.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Company Profile

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp (NYSE: MGY) is an independent exploration and production company focused on the acquisition, development and optimization of onshore oil and gas assets in South Texas. Headquartered in Houston, the company concentrates its efforts on the Eagle Ford Shale, where it holds significant working interests in key producing counties.

The company’s core operations center on horizontal drilling and multi-stage completions designed to extract light crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs).