Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $209.40 and last traded at $208.5390, with a volume of 1629080 shares. The stock had previously closed at $204.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.19.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 2.1%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $178.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.82. The firm has a market cap of $62.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.34. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 14.00%. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 98.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 9,205 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,497,000 after purchasing an additional 4,559 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 9,270 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 260,984 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $42,444,000 after buying an additional 13,392 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 5,147 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $837,000 after buying an additional 2,294 shares during the period. Finally, Qtron Investments LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $711,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

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.