Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.71 EPS

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71, Zacks reports. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $158.30 on Thursday. Marathon Petroleum has a 52-week low of $130.54 and a 52-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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $146.10 and its 200-day moving average is $157.78. The company has a market cap of $50.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.41.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of 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 research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.27.

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