Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp (NYSE:MGY)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $29.78 and last traded at $29.50, with a volume of 552511 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $29.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MGY shares. Mizuho set a $30.00 target price on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a research report on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Magnolia Oil & Gas from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Siebert Williams Shank lowered Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Magnolia Oil & Gas from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Magnolia Oil & Gas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.90.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Magnolia Oil & Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were paid a $0.165 dividend. This is a boost from Magnolia Oil & Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. Magnolia Oil & Gas’s payout ratio is 38.37%.

Insider Activity at Magnolia Oil & Gas

In other news, CEO Christopher G. Stavros sold 119,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.29, for a total transaction of $3,513,452.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 883,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,880,409.68. This represents a 11.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy D. Yang sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.29, for a total value of $4,393,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 526,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,425,900.69. The trade was a 22.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 338,954 shares of company stock worth $9,911,733 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Magnolia Oil & Gas

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 55.7% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,478,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,898,000 after buying an additional 1,601,809 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 58.7% in the third quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,138,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,789,000 after acquiring an additional 1,531,061 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 12.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 11,861,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358,878 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 661.5% in the 4th quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 1,454,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,837,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263,407 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 192.4% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,401,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,449,000 after buying an additional 921,970 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

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).