Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.91

Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.91 per share by the oil and gas company on Monday, March 10th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th.

Marathon Petroleum has raised its dividend by an average of 13.4% per year over the last three years. Marathon Petroleum has a payout ratio of 29.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Marathon Petroleum to earn $8.55 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 42.6%.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:MPC opened at $150.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.42. Marathon Petroleum has a twelve month low of $130.54 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $147.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.20.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.