Short Interest in Magnolia Oil & Gas Co. (NYSE:MGY) Drops By 15.4%

Magnolia Oil & Gas Co. (NYSE:MGY) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 27,070,000 shares, a drop of 15.4% from the March 15th total of 31,980,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,860,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.5 days. Currently, 13.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Magnolia Oil & Gas

In other news, CEO Christopher G. Stavros bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.05 per share, with a total value of $55,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 892,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,676,802.60. This trade represents a 0.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Magnolia Oil & Gas

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MGY. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Magnolia Oil & Gas by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 15,410,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,297,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038,709 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,396,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,559,000 after buying an additional 667,973 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 62.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,653,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,383,000 after buying an additional 636,049 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Magnolia Oil & Gas during the fourth quarter valued at $13,634,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 910.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 541,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,658,000 after purchasing an additional 487,820 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Stock Performance

NYSE:MGY traded up $0.54 on Tuesday, reaching $20.73. 428,606 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,282,790. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Magnolia Oil & Gas has a 52 week low of $19.09 and a 52 week high of $29.02. The firm has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.66.

Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Magnolia Oil & Gas had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 27.82%. The company had revenue of $326.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.40 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Magnolia Oil & Gas will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Magnolia Oil & Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Magnolia Oil & Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 31.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Williams Trading set a $29.00 target price on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Johnson Rice downgraded Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Magnolia Oil & Gas from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.43.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Company Profile

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp. engages in the acquisition, development, exploration, and production of oil and natural gas properties. It operates assets located in the Eagle Ford Shale and Austin Chalk formations in South Texas. The company was founded on February 14, 2017 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.