Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp
For the period ended May 7, 2025. Filed Mar 20, 2025.
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What shareholders are asked to vote on at a company's meeting. It is where to find what directors and top executives are paid, and who owns the most shares.
May 7, 2025 · Filed Mar 20, 2025
Contents
PROXY STATEMENT OVERVIEW
The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Magnolia Oil & Gas Corporation (“Magnolia,” the “Company,” “we,” “our” and “us”) is furnishing you this proxy statement in connection with the Company’s solicitation of proxies to be voted at our 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, including any adjournment or postponement of that meeting (the “Annual Meeting”).
Details of the 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders
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| Date & TimeWednesday, May 7, 20258:00 a.m. Central Time | | Live webcast at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/MGY2025 |
The proxy materials, including this proxy statement, the proxy card and the 2024 Form 10-K, are being distributed or made available on or about March 20, 2025, to our stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 10, 2025 (the “Record Date”). The proxy statement and the 2024 Form 10-K are available online at www.magnoliaoilgas.com/investors/filings/sec-filings, and our proxy materials may also be accessed at www.proxyvote.com.
Beginning 15 minutes prior to, and during, the virtual Annual Meeting, a complete list of our stockholders of record entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting will be available for viewing by stockholders for any purpose germane to the meeting at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/MGY2025. In addition, information on how to obtain access to this list of stockholders will be available during the ten days preceding the Annual Meeting on our website at www.magnoliaoilgas.com/investors. Stockholders requesting access to the list will be asked to provide the 16-digit control number found on their proxy card, voting instruction form, or Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials for the 2025 Annual Meeting previously mailed or made available to stockholders entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting.
Summary Investment Highlights
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| High Quality Assets Positioned for Success | | Positive Free Cash Flow & Industry Leading Margins |
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| ■Leading position in the Giddings area with low breakevens and substantial running room■Coveted position in the Karnes area in the core of the Eagle Ford | | ■Generated substantial free cash flow since Magnolia’s inception■Strong margins through the commodity cycle |
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| Multiple Levers of Growth | | Strong Balance Sheet, Financial Flexibility &Conservative Financial Policy |
| ■Steady organic growth through proven drilling program while remaining well within cash flow (~55 percent of EBITDAX)■Clean balance sheet and strong free cash flow enable Magnolia to pursue accretive bolt-on acquisitions or buy back stock to improve per share metrics | | ■Conservative leverage profile with only $400 million of total principal debt outstanding and $140 million of net debt■Substantial liquidity of $710 million(1) |
| (1) | Liquidity is defined as cash plus availability under our revolving credit facility as of December 31, 2024. |
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| Magnolia Oil & Gas | 2 | 2025 Proxy Statement |
| PROPOSAL 1 — Election of Directors | Election of the eight director nominees named in this proxy statement to serve on our Board for a one year term, commencing on the date of the Annual Meeting (See page 8 for more information) |
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| THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT THE CLASS A AND CLASS B STOCKHOLDERS, VOTING AS A SINGLE CLASS, VOTE “FOR” EACH OF THE EIGHT DIRECTOR NOMINEES TO THE BOARD. | |
Director Nominees
| Name | Age | DirectorSince | Principal Occupation | Independent | CommitteeMemberships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher G. Stavros | 61 | September 2022 | President and Chief Executive Officer of Magnolia | No | |
| Dan F. Smith Chairman | 78 | May 2017 | Former Chief Executive Officer of Lyondell Chemical Company | Yes | ◾Audit◾Compensation |
| Arcilia C. Acosta | 59 | May 2017 | Chief Executive Officer of CARCON Industries & Construction and Southwestern Testing Laboratories (“STL Engineers”) | Yes | ◾Compensation◾Nominating & Governance (Chair) |
| Edward P. Djerejian | 86 | May 2017 | Former U.S. Ambassador and Founding Director of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy | Yes | ◾Compensation (Chair)◾Nominating & Governance |
| David M. Khani | 61 | February 2024 | Former Chief Financial Officer of EQT Corporation | Yes | ◾Audit |
| James R. Larson | 75 | July 2018 | Former Chief Financial Officer of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation | Yes | ◾Audit (Chair) ◾Nominating & Governance |
| R. Lewis Ropp | 65 | January 2025 | Former Senior Managing Director and Senior Equity Partner of Barrow Hanley Global Investors | Yes | ◾Audit |
| Shandell M. Szabo | 50 | May 2024 | Former Vice President of U.S. Exploration and Onshore Exploration at Anadarko Petroleum Corporation | Yes | ◾Audit |
Board Demographics
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| COMPOSITION | REFRESHMENT | INDEPENDENCE | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Two female directors, one director who is Hispanic, and one director who is of Middle Eastern descent | | Five or fewer years of tenure | | Independentand an independent director serves as Chairman of the Board |
| | | Determined as of March 20, 2025 | | |
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| Magnolia Oil & Gas | 3 | 2025 Proxy Statement |
Governance and Sustainability
In line with our core value of integrity, Magnolia is committed to strong corporate governance principles and practices. Our Board of Directors oversees our business affairs in the best interests of our stakeholders, including our stockholders, with a focus on our long term health and success as an organization. We also continue to make progress on key sustainability measures, building on our track record in 2024 and beyond as we strive to develop oil and natural gas resources safely and responsibly. We plan to make data regarding our 2024 emissions available in our 2025 sustainability report, which we anticipate releasing in the summer of 2025.
Environmental Highlights
■Managing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: From 2019 to 2023, we reduced our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) intensity rate (our Scope 1 GHG emissions as a percentage of our gross operated production) by 12 percent.
■Efforts to Minimize Flaring: From 2019 to 2023, we reduced our flaring intensity rate (the amount of gas flared as a percentage of our total production) by 86 percent.
■Reducing Methane and Volatile Organic Compounds (“VOC”) Emissions: We continue to focus on methods to reduce our direct methane emissions, such as using low- and no-bleed pneumatic controllers across our operations.
■Lessening Surface Impacts: From 2022 to 2023, we reduced the number of hydrocarbon spills in our operations by 24 percent.
■Managing Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing Operations Responsibly: We have made significant investments in electrification across our field operations to secure service for our facilities, upgrade the electric grid in areas where we operate, and provide power stabilization for our current and future developments.
Social Highlights
■Valuing Safety: In 2024, our full-time field employees each received an average of approximately 60 hours of safety training designed to enhance their skills.
■Fostering Workforce Opportunities: Magnolia is committed to creating and maintaining a workplace in which all employees have an opportunity to participate and contribute to the success of the business and are valued for their expertise, experience, and ideas.
■Developing a Winning Team and an Ownership Culture: For the second year in a row, Magnolia was recognized as a top workplace in the annual Houston Chronicle Top Workplaces survey, placing tenth among participating mid-sized companies in the greater Houston area in 2024 based on employee feedback on workplace satisfaction in several areas.
■Supporting Our Communities: We make a $1,000 donation annually on each employee's behalf to the charitable organization of their choice, and in 2024 the Company contributed $252,000 towards employee-directed donations to local and national non-profits.
Governance Highlights
■Valuing Independence: An independent, non-executive director serves as Chairman of the Board. All Board committees are comprised entirely of independent directors.
■Annual Director Elections: All of our directors are elected on an annual basis.
■Promoting Strong Corporate Governance Practices: We regularly review our Board committee charters, Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, and other governance documents.
■Actively Engaging with Stockholders: During 2024, we met with stockholders representing more than 60 percent of Magnolia’s outstanding shares.
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| Magnolia Oil & Gas | 4 | 2025 Proxy Statement |
| PROPOSAL 2 — Say-on-Pay Vote | Approval of an advisory, non-binding resolution regarding the compensation of our Named Executive Officers for 2024 (See page 30 to read our Compensation Discussion and Analysis) |
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| THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT THE CLASS A AND CLASS B STOCKHOLDERS, VOTING AS A SINGLE CLASS, VOTE “FOR” THE APPROVAL OF THIS PROPOSAL. | |
Our Executive Compensation Practices
In furtherance of our strategic priorities, we have designed our incentive programs to primarily focus on metrics that lead to value creation, such as Operating Margin, Free Cash Flow Percentage, and Net Debt to EBITDAX goals, which collectively comprised 75 percent of our annual cash bonus awards in 2024, along with total stockholder return (“TSR”) and stock price appreciation metrics, which are used in connection with our long term equity-based compensation program. In addition, the table below highlights practices we follow to promote good governance and create further alignment with our stockholders:
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| | What We Do | | What We Don’t Do |
| A majority of our Named Executive Officers’ compensation is at risk | We do not have employment agreements | ||
| At least 50 percent of our Named Executive Officers’ long term equity-based compensation each year is subject to performance-based vesting conditions | We do not have single trigger equity award vesting upon a change in control (unless the successor company fails to assume the awards) | ||
| Payouts under our annual bonus program and our performance-based equity awards are capped at a maximum earning opportunity and payouts under our performance share unit (“PSU”) awards are capped at target in the event our absolute TSR is negative | We do not allow hedging of our Common Stock or, without prior consent, pledging of Common Stock by our employees | ||
| We maintain a clawback policy that requires us to recoup certain incentive-based compensation in the event of certain financial restatements | We do not use overlapping performance metrics in our annual cash bonus program and our long term equity-based awards | ||
| We maintain stock ownership guidelines for executives and non-employee directors | We do not provide excise tax gross-ups | ||
| We use an independent compensation consultant | We do not provide excessive perquisites or other benefits | ||
| We conduct an annual say-on-pay vote | We do not have any defined benefit or supplemental executive retirement plans |
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| Magnolia Oil & Gas | 5 | 2025 Proxy Statement |
Executive Compensation Components
| · Base Salary · Annual Bonus Program · Long Term Equity-Based Compensation | ||||
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| Purpose · Provide market competitive level of fixed compensation for the fundamental duties required of the position to attract and retain talent · Motivate and reward performance achievement against annual quantitative and qualitative performance metrics · Reward creation of long term stockholder value and achievements consistent with our long term business strategiesAlign Named Executive Officer compensation with changes in stockholder value | ||||
| Named Executive Officer 2024 Target Pay Mix The Compensation Committee reviews target total direct compensation for each Named Executive Officer to ensure that it is appropriately positioned, taking into consideration the individual Named Executive Officer’s experience, performance, duties and responsibilities, tenure in the role, internal pay equity, and other relevant factors. For 2024, the Named Executive Officers’ target pay mix is set forth below: | ||||
| · Base Salary · Annual Bonus Program · Long Term Equity-Based Compensation | ||||
| CEO Target Pay Mix | 10% | 18% | Time-Based RSUs36% | PSUs36% |
| Average of All Other Named Executive Officers (“NEOs’’) Target Pay Mix | 17% | 21% | Time-Based RSUs31% | PSUs31% |
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| PROPOSAL 3 — Advisory Vote on Say-On-Frequency | An advisory, non-binding vote on the frequency of future “say-on-pay” votes to approve Magnolia’s compensation program for Named Executive Officers (See page 68 for more information) |
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| THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT THE CLASS A AND CLASS B STOCKHOLDERS, VOTING AS A SINGLE CLASS, VOTE “FOR” CHOICE ONE—A “1 YEAR” FREQUENCY FOR FUTURE SAY-ON-PAY VOTES. | |
The Board recommends that the advisory say-on-pay vote to approve executive compensation be held on an annual basis every year, as it believes this frequency best enables stockholders to timely express their views on Magnolia’s executive compensation program and provides the Board and the Compensation Committee with current guidance on stockholder sentiment.
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| Magnolia Oil & Gas | 6 | 2025 Proxy Statement |
| PROPOSAL 4 — Appointment of Independent Auditors | Ratification of our independent registered public accounting firm for the 2025 fiscal year (See page 69 for more information) |
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| THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT THE CLASS A AND CLASS B STOCKHOLDERS, VOTING AS A SINGLE CLASS, VOTE “FOR” THE APPROVAL OF THIS PROPOSAL. | |
The Audit Committeehas appointed KPMG, which has been our independent audit firm since February 2017, as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025.
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| Magnolia Oil & Gas | 7 | 2025 Proxy Statement |
The text of this filing, as the company filed it with the SEC, without its images or exhibits. This is not investment advice.