Magnolia Oil & Gas
Through the investors’ lenses
Each of these investors has said in public what they look at before buying. Click a name to see how this company measures up — a tick where it passes one of their tests, a cross where it does not.
Warren Buffett 4/4
| Measure | MGY | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner earnings | $293.53m | positive | ✓ |
| Return on equity | 16.3% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | 0.20x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Operating margin | 33.5% | median 15.0% | ✓ |
Passes 4 of 4. To be clear: Warren Buffett has never said anything about Magnolia Oil & Gas. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Terry Smith 4/4
| Measure | MGY | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 18.4% | median 10.1% | ✓ |
| Cash conversion | 2.70x | median 1.78x | ✓ |
| Operating margin | 33.5% | median 15.0% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | 0.20x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
Passes 4 of 4. To be clear: Terry Smith has never said anything about Magnolia Oil & Gas. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Charlie Munger 3/3
| Measure | MGY | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 18.4% | median 10.1% | ✓ |
| Return on equity | 16.3% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Operating margin | 33.5% | median 15.0% | ✓ |
Passes 3 of 3. To be clear: Charlie Munger has never said anything about Magnolia Oil & Gas. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Chuck Akre 3/3
| Measure | MGY | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | 16.3% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | 0.20x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Cash conversion | 2.70x | median 1.78x | ✓ |
Passes 3 of 3. To be clear: Chuck Akre has never said anything about Magnolia Oil & Gas. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Philip Fisher 3/4
| Measure | MGY | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 33.5% | median 15.0% | ✓ |
| Net margin | 24.8% | median 10.2% | ✓ |
| Return on capital employed | 18.4% | median 10.1% | ✓ |
| Operating margin, held or improving | 33.5% | 10-yr median 43.6% | ✗ |
Passes 3 of 4. To be clear: Philip Fisher has never said anything about Magnolia Oil & Gas. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Walter Schloss 2/2
| Measure | MGY | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 1.54x | median 1.25x | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | 0.20x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
Passes 2 of 2. To be clear: Walter Schloss has never said anything about Magnolia Oil & Gas. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Benjamin Graham 0/2
| Measure | MGY | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 1.54x | 2.00x published | ✗ |
| Long-term debt to working capital | 2.55x | 1.00x published | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 2. To be clear: Benjamin Graham has never said anything about Magnolia Oil & Gas. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Joel Greenblatt 1/1
| Measure | MGY | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 18.4% | median 10.1% | ✓ |
Passes 1 of 1. To be clear: Joel Greenblatt has never said anything about Magnolia Oil & Gas. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Peter Lynch 2/2
| Measure | MGY | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt to equity | 0.20x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Net margin | 24.8% | median 10.2% | ✓ |
Passes 2 of 2. To be clear: Peter Lynch has never said anything about Magnolia Oil & Gas. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
| Basis | Payout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | 34.2% | whySwings with the commodity price, not the business. |
| Operating cash flow | 12.9% | whyBefore capital spending. |
| Free cash flow | 27.6% | whyWhat producers set distributions against. Check for variable or special dividends before reading a trend. |
Spread between highest and lowest: 21.4 percentage points. Same filings, different denominators.
Coverage rating 36 / 100 — Strained. ? Peer standing 32/50Direction 4/30Stability 0/20
Against its own history: 27.6% this year vs 14.7% median over the prior 4. A gap this size is usually a one-off — acquisition, settlement, cyclical trough — not a dividend that stopped being funded. The rating reads the latest year; the table shows the trend.
Free cash flow payout, last 5 years
| Fiscal year | Payout |
|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 27.6% |
| 2024-12-31 | 22.5% |
| 2023-12-31 | 20.4% |
| 2022-12-31 | 9.0% |
| 2021-12-31 | 2.6% |
Coverage has deteriorated three years running, 9.0% to 27.6%. Still covered, but moving the wrong way.
65% of the 31 energy here pay out more.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $0.600 ÷ diluted EPS $1.75
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $113m ÷ operating cash flow $879m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $113m ÷ (operating cash flow $879m − capex $469m)
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2026-02-12 · accession 0001698990-26-000005
All public at sec.gov — you should not have to take our word for it.
Computed straight from SEC XBRL. A number that looks wrong to you is more useful to us than agreement — tell us.
What the free cash flow payout ratio measures, and where every company here sits on it.
Also on: rated strained · when it files.
When this changes
Every figure above is recomputed whenever Magnolia Oil & Gas files. The monthly letter carries what filed, what moved, and one finding computed across every company here.