Zacks Research Upgrades Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) to “Strong-Buy”

Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Magnolia Oil & Gas in a report on Friday, January 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $25.00 target price on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Bank of America raised shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.27.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Stock Performance

Shares of MGY stock opened at $32.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.89. Magnolia Oil & Gas has a 52-week low of $19.09 and a 52-week high of $32.43. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $27.48 and its 200 day moving average is $24.51.

Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $317.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $322.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Magnolia Oil & Gas will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Magnolia Oil & Gas news, CEO Christopher G. Stavros sold 119,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 883,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,880,409.68. This represents a 11.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brian Corales sold 33,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.12, for a total value of $960,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 184,178 shares in the company, valued at $5,363,263.36. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 338,954 shares of company stock worth $9,911,733. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Magnolia Oil & Gas

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 130.1% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Magnolia Oil & Gas during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 165.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 79.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. 94.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).