Marathon Petroleum Boosts dividend 12.5%

Marathon Petroleum Corporation

revealed Wednesday that its board has boosted its dividend by 12.5 percent to $0.36 per share on common stock. The dividend would be paid on September 12 to its shareholders of record as August 17. On an annualized basis, the dividend worked out to $1.44 a share. The company's chairman, president and CEO, Gary Heminger, said, "This increase in our dividend represents a compound annual growth rate of more than 29 percent from the dividend level established at the time MPC became a standalone public company. This increase demonstrates our ongoing commitment to share the success of the business with our owners as we also continue to invest in future growth." Marathon Petroleum's dividend provided 3.3 percent yield, which was lower than the 3.8 percent yield in the five-year period. The dividend payout ratio was approximately 35 percent, which was slightly lower than the 36 percent average payout ratio of the five-year period. The stock dipped $0.59 or 1.53 percent to trade at $38.02