Marathon Petroleum Corp Stock Hold Recommendation Reiterated (MPC)

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a hold with a ratings score of C . The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and notable return on equity. However, as a counter to these strengths, we find that the company's profit margins have been poor overall.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• MPC's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 6.9%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 1.6%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• MPC's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.29 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. Along with the favorable debt-to-equity ratio, the company maintains an adequate quick ratio of 1.02, which illustrates the ability to avoid short-term cash problems.
• Net operating cash flow has slightly increased to $1,833.00 million or 6.63% when compared to the same quarter last year. The firm also exceeded the industry average cash flow growth rate of -15.33%.
• The gross profit margin for MARATHON PETROLEUM CORP is currently extremely low, coming in at 11.50%. It has decreased from the same quarter the previous year. Along with this, the net profit margin of 6.24% trails that of the industry average.

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in refining, transporting, and marketing petroleum products primarily in the United States. Marathon has a market cap of $22.76 billion and is part of the basic materials sector and energy industry. The company has a P/E ratio of 9, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 6.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday.

You can view the full Marathon Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

--Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff.

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