Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.90 EPS

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 24.05% and a net margin of 4.79%. The company’s revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.14 EPS.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $154.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.31. Marathon Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $140.98 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.32. The company has a market capitalization of $51.54 billion, a PE ratio of 8.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.38.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.67.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.