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

Key Points

• CEO Christopher Stavros sold 119,954 shares at an average price of $29.29 for about $3.51 million, reducing his ownership by 11.95% to 883,592 shares valued at roughly $25.88 million.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.37, beating estimates by $0.01, while revenue was $317.6 million—slightly below expectations and down 2.8% year-over-year.
• Magnolia raised its quarterly dividend to $0.165 (annualized $0.66) for a 2.3% yield, and analysts maintain a consensus "Hold" rating with a $28.18 price target.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp (NYSE:MGY - Get Free Report) CEO Christopher Stavros sold 119,954 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.29, for a total value of $3,513,452.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 883,592 shares in the company, valued at $25,880,409.68. This trade represents a 11.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of MGY traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.03. 4,097,754 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,160,696. The firm has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp has a 12-month low of $19.09 and a 12-month high of $29.74.

Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $322.18 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The business's revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th were paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Magnolia Oil & Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. Magnolia Oil & Gas's payout ratio is presently 38.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MGY. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Magnolia Oil & Gas from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a research report on Friday, January 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. Benchmark restated a "hold" rating on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research raised shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Magnolia Oil & Gas currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.18.

Institutional Trading of Magnolia Oil & Gas

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MGY. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 11,861,231 shares of the company's stock valued at $266,641,000 after buying an additional 1,358,878 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 1.9% in the second quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 691,959 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,555,000 after acquiring an additional 12,638 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 16.3% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 80,021 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,799,000 after acquiring an additional 11,207 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 4.4% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 912,526 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,781,000 after acquiring an additional 38,502 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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. Institutional investors own 94.73% of the company's stock.

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).

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