Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $399.62 and last traded at $398.7220, with a volume of 1842866 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $388.90.

Trending Headlines about Marathon Petroleum

Here are the key news stories impacting Marathon Petroleum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record-high crack spreads and strong refining margins are supporting MPC’s earnings outlook. Rising earnings estimates have helped Zacks identify the company as a “Bull of the Day” and a strong momentum stock. Marathon Petroleum and Campbell’s highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support is reinforcing the rally. UBS reportedly raised its view on MPC, while Wells Fargo has maintained a constructive outlook and expects further gains despite concerns that the stock’s sharp advance could lead to a valuation pullback. MPC Gets a UBS Raise While Refiners Keep Cashing In
• Positive Sentiment: Escalating tensions involving Iran and threats to U.S. energy assets in the Gulf pushed crude oil above $91 per barrel and prompted money to rotate into energy-related stocks. Higher oil prices and geopolitical risk can support refining-sector sentiment, although the effect on MPC’s margins may depend on how product prices and crude costs move relative to one another. Iran Just Raised the Stakes in the Gulf—These 5 Stocks Stand to Benefit
• Neutral Sentiment: MPC has become a heavily searched and widely discussed stock on Zacks, with its momentum and “Strong Buy” characteristics attracting additional investor attention. This may increase near-term demand but does not itself change the company’s fundamentals. Why Marathon Petroleum is a Strong Momentum Stock

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $303.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $330.50.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $116.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $327.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $269.70.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.27 by $3.46. The company had revenue of $51.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.87 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 31.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 53.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.96 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 47.23 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $875,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 12,619 shares in the company, valued at $4,416,650. This represents a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Molly R. Benson sold 17,196 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.57, for a total transaction of $6,165,969.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,876,862.38. The trade was a 36.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,691 shares of company stock worth $7,780,127. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPC. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 36,834.6% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 128,810,637 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $32,933,016,000 after buying an additional 128,461,884 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $6,648,958,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $1,029,611,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $472,312,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $621,832,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) is an integrated downstream energy company engaged primarily in refining, marketing and transporting petroleum products. The company converts crude oil and other feedstocks into gasoline, diesel and other transportation fuels, as well as asphalt, propane, petrochemical feedstocks and related products.

Marathon Petroleum operates a network of refineries in the United States and markets refined products through wholesale channels, branded retail locations and commercial customers.