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

Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders 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 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th.

Marathon Petroleum has raised its dividend by an average of 13.4% annually over the last three years. Marathon Petroleum has a dividend 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 Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $152.69 on Tuesday. Marathon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $49.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.10, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. 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. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The firm had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.88 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MPC. Mizuho lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped 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. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.20.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.