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

Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders 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 dividend 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% per year over the last three years. Marathon Petroleum has a payout ratio of 29.9% meaning 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 Price Performance

Shares of MPC traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $152.69. 1,484,080 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,866,608. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. Marathon Petroleum has a 1-year low of $130.54 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The stock has a market cap of $49.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $147.18 and a 200-day moving average of $158.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share 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 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 company posted $8.14 EPS. The business's revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has approved a stock 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 buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $181.20.

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.

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