Wells Fargo & Company Increases Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) Price Target to $32.00

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its price target on Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) from $25 to $32 while keeping an "equal weight" rating, implying about an 8.29% upside from the current share price.
• Several other analysts have also lifted targets (e.g., KeyCorp to $38, Piper Sandler to $31), leaving a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of $31.25.
• Insider selling has been notable — insiders sold 338,954 shares worth roughly $9.9M in the past 90 days — while institutional investors hold about 94.73% of the stock.

Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $25.00 to $32.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective indicates a potential upside of 8.29% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Mizuho set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a report on Friday, February 6th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $32.00 price objective (up from $29.00) on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.25.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MGY traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.55. The stock had a trading volume of 190,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,034,936. The business's fifty day moving average is $28.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.83. Magnolia Oil & Gas has a twelve month low of $19.38 and a twelve month high of $32.76.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Brian Corales sold 33,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.12, for a total transaction of $960,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 184,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,363,263.36. The trade was a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher G. Stavros sold 119,954 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.29, for a total transaction of $3,513,452.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 338,954 shares of company stock valued at $9,911,733. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Magnolia Oil & Gas

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 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 during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,531,061 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 661.5% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 192.4% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,401,279 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,449,000 after purchasing an additional 921,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 16,251.3% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 626,745 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,960,000 after acquiring an additional 622,912 shares in the last quarter. 94.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).

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