Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Board Declares Share Buyback Plan

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 30th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to purchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MPC. StockNews.com upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.77.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $178.97 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.52. Marathon Petroleum has a 12-month low of $104.32 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 30.58% and a net margin of 6.44%. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 20.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.02%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total transaction of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.