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Marathon Oil (MRO) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Marathon Oil (MRO - Free Report) closed at $26.88, marking a -1.65% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.22% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.83%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.56%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the energy company had gained 5.12% over the past month. This has outpaced the Oils-Energy sector's gain of 4.83% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.54% in that time.

Marathon Oil will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.59, down 52.42% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.65 billion, down 26.42% from the year-ago period.

MRO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $2.43 per share and revenue of $6.51 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -45.76% and -18.93%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Marathon Oil should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 3.99% higher within the past month. Marathon Oil is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Digging into valuation, Marathon Oil currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.27. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.7, which means Marathon Oil is trading at a discount to the group.

Investors should also note that MRO has a PEG ratio of 0.57 right now. 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. MRO's industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.81 as of yesterday's close.

The Oil and Gas - Integrated - United States industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 161, which puts it in the bottom 37% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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