Marathon Petroleum Co. (MPC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.91 on March 10th

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

Marathon Petroleum has increased its dividend by an average of 13.4% annually over the last three years. Marathon Petroleum has a payout ratio of 29.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $150.64 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $147.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.44. Marathon Petroleum has a 52-week low of $130.54 and a 52-week high of $221.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.42.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $8.14 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MPC. 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 research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.20.

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

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.