Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) Stock Falls 5.1% Following Analyst Downgrade

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp (NYSE:MGY) dropped 5.1% during mid-day trading on Monday after Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as low as $22.30 and last traded at $22.4540. Approximately 3,627,155 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 3% from the average session volume of 3,513,240 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.67.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on MGY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Magnolia Oil & Gas from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank raised shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.59.

Institutional Trading of Magnolia Oil & Gas

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 790.8% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,263,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,748,000 after acquiring an additional 5,560,619 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its stake in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 96.5% during the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,711,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,195,000 after buying an additional 840,275 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 323.4% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 991,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,287,000 after acquiring an additional 757,202 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,877,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,408,000 after purchasing an additional 659,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 43.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,701,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,726,000 after buying an additional 517,500 shares during the last quarter. 94.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $25.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.13. Magnolia Oil & Gas had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 25.82%. The business had revenue of $513.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $474.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Magnolia Oil & Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 32.29%.

About Magnolia Oil & Gas