Marathon Oil (MRO) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

In the latest trading session, Marathon Oil (MRO) closed at $22.05, marking a +0.14% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 3.06% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 2.68%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.08%.

Heading into today, shares of the energy company had lost 25.98% over the past month, lagging the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 12.66% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.31% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Marathon Oil as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, Marathon Oil is projected to report earnings of $1.30 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 490.91%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2.05 billion, up 79.48% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.16 per share and revenue of $8.08 billion. These totals would mark changes of +228.66% and +47.72%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Marathon Oil should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 4.46% higher within the past month. Marathon Oil is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Looking at its valuation, Marathon Oil is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 4.27. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 10.88, which means Marathon Oil is trading at a discount to the group.

It is also worth noting that MRO currently has a PEG ratio of 0.3. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Oil and Gas - Integrated - United States stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.31 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Oil and Gas - Integrated - United States industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 107, which puts it in the top 43% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

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