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

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

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $154.00 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $161.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.54 billion, a PE ratio of 8.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum has a 12 month low of $140.98 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $222.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $180.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.67.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program 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 programs are generally 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.