Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) Declares $1.00 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• Marathon Petroleum declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, payable September 10 to shareholders of record on August 19. The dividend implies an annualized payout of $4.00 and a 1.3% yield.
• The company’s dividend appears well covered, with a 34.2% payout ratio and three consecutive years of annual increases. Analysts expect next year’s earnings to support an estimated 12.2% future payout ratio.
• Marathon Petroleum recently exceeded earnings expectations, reporting $1.65 in quarterly EPS versus the $0.74 consensus, while revenue rose 8.5% year over year. Wall Street maintains a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $298.69.

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of 1.00 per share by the oil and gas company on Thursday, September 10th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th.

Marathon Petroleum has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. Marathon Petroleum has a dividend payout ratio of 34.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Marathon Petroleum to earn $32.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.2%.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $309.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.52. Marathon Petroleum has a 1-year low of $158.00 and a 1-year high of $326.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $271.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.89.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.91. The company had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 3.36%.The firm's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.24) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 43.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on MPC shares. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on Marathon Petroleum and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $344.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $315.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $298.69.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation NYSE: MPC is a U.S.-based downstream energy company engaged principally in the refining, marketing, supply and transportation of petroleum products. The company was formed through a spin-off from Marathon Oil in 2011 and operates an integrated system of refining and logistics assets that support the production and distribution of transportation fuels and other refined petroleum products.

Marathon Petroleum's operations include refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt and other specialty products, as well as managing the distribution and storage infrastructure needed to move those products to market.

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