Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

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

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:MPC opened at $147.17 on Tuesday. Marathon Petroleum has a one year low of $130.54 and a one 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.96. 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.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MPC shares. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America assumed 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 for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.20.

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.