Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) to Buyback $5.00 billion in Shares

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Tudor Pickering lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.00.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC traded up $4.47 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $149.41. 4,008,615 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,673,688. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.31. Marathon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $140.98 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.42.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $38.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.66 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 24.05% and a net margin of 4.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.34%.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.