Marathon Petroleum Co. (MPC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.91 on March 10th

Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of 0.91 per share by the oil and gas company on Monday, March 10th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th.

Marathon Petroleum has raised its dividend payment by an average of 13.4% per year over the last three years. Marathon Petroleum has a dividend payout ratio of 30.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Marathon Petroleum to earn $11.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.5%.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.3 %

MPC stock opened at $156.11 on Monday. Marathon Petroleum has a 1-year low of $130.54 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $50.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.79.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.27.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Refining & Marketing, and Midstream segments. The Refining & Marketing segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks at its refineries in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions of the United States; and purchases refined products and ethanol for resale and distributes refined products, including renewable diesel, through transportation, storage, distribution, and marketing services.