Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) CEO Christopher Stavros Sells 119,954 Shares of Stock

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp (NYSE:MGY) CEO Christopher Stavros sold 119,954 shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.29, for a total value of $3,513,452.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 883,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,880,409.68. The trade was a 11.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MGY opened at $29.03 on Thursday. Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp has a 1-year low of $19.09 and a 1-year high of $29.74. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $25.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.99. The company has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $317.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $322.18 million. Magnolia Oil & Gas had a net margin of 24.79% and a return on equity of 16.67%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. Magnolia Oil & Gas’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. This is an increase from Magnolia Oil & Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Magnolia Oil & Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MGY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a report on Friday, January 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Zacks Research raised Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.18.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MGY. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 236.2% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in the third quarter worth $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 165.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 94.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Magnolia Oil & Gas

Here are the key news stories impacting Magnolia Oil & Gas this week:

• Negative Sentiment: CEO Christopher G. Stavros sold 119,954 shares at an average of $29.29 for proceeds of about $3.51M, reducing his direct stake by ~11.95%. Investors may view a large CEO sale as a negative signal about near-term insider conviction. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Timothy D. Yang sold 150,000 shares at an average of $29.29 for proceeds of ~$4.39M, trimming his holding by ~22.17%. A large sale by a top operating executive can raise questions about insider outlook or diversification motives. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Brian Corales sold 33,000 shares at an average of $29.12 for proceeds of ~$961K, a ~15.19% cut to his position. CFO sales often draw extra attention because of their access to near-term financial visibility. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Director Dan F. Smith sold 18,000 shares at ~$29.01 (~$522K), reducing his holding by ~13.12%. Director selling can modestly affect investor perception of governance/insider alignment. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Director Edward P. Djerejian sold 18,000 shares at ~$28.98 (~$522K), lowering his stake by ~14.02%. Multiple board-level sales on close dates can amplify negative sentiment even if sales are for personal reasons. SEC filing

About Magnolia Oil & Gas

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).