Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71, Zacks reports. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE MPC opened at $147.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.66, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.96. Marathon Petroleum has a 12 month low of $130.54 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.20.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

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.