Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $1.00 on September 10th

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of 1.00 per share by the oil and gas company on Thursday, September 10th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th.

Marathon Petroleum has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 3 years. Marathon Petroleum has a payout ratio of 34.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Marathon Petroleum to earn $32.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.2%.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $314.18 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $236.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Marathon Petroleum has a 52-week low of $158.00 and a 52-week high of $326.92.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.24) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 43.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $257.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $270.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.69.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: MPC) is a U.S.-based downstream energy company engaged principally in the refining, marketing, supply and transportation of petroleum products. The company was formed through a spin-off from Marathon Oil in 2011 and operates an integrated system of refining and logistics assets that support the production and distribution of transportation fuels and other refined petroleum products.

Marathon Petroleum’s operations include refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt and other specialty products, as well as managing the distribution and storage infrastructure needed to move those products to market.