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

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 given 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 of this dividend 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 payout ratio of 29.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MPC traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $152.69. 1,484,080 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,866,608. Marathon Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $130.54 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $147.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.52. The stock has a market cap of $49.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.42.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.14 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.20.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to buy up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

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

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

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.