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Analyst Sees More Upside for Outperforming Oil (MRO) Stock
By: Schaeffer's Investment Research | February 23, 2022

• Piper Sandler upgraded MRO to "overweight" from "neutral"

• The stock hit a roughly three-year high yesterday

Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) is up 3.2% to trade at $22.29 this morning. The Russia-Ukraine crisis has driven oil higher, with Piper Sandler noting the commodity's run is not over yet. The firm upgraded the equity to "overweight" from neutral," and hiked its price target to $27 from $22.

Since the start of the year, the 30-day moving average has helped capture MRO's pullbacks. Year-to-date, the equity is up 31.5%, and yesterday hit a three-year high of $23.18.

Of the 31 analysts in coverage, 20 carry a "buy" or better rating. Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $23.07 is in line with current levels, leaving some room for more price-target hikes.

In the past 10 days, 4.67 calls have been picked up for every put at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). Plus, the security's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) stands at a 94 out of 100, meaning MRO has exceeded option traders' volatility expectations during the past year.

Drilling down to today's options activity, 5,887 calls have crossed the tape, which is double the intraday average, compared to just 213 puts. Most popular is the 2/25 22.50-strike call, followed by the March 25 call.

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