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

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

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE MPC traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $154.00. 1,755,057 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,671,459. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $161.30 and a 200 day moving average of $170.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Marathon Petroleum has a 1 year low of $140.98 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The stock has a market cap of $51.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.38.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MPC. Tudor Pickering downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped 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 note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.67.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.