MPC - Marathon Petroleum upgraded at Jefferies on improving margin capture

Marathon Petroleum ( NYSE: MPC ) +2.7% in Friday's trading as Jefferies upgraded shares to Buy from Hold with a $157 price target, raised from $134, saying strong free cash flow generation, cash balance and distributions from MPLX spark confidence in the company's ability to return capital to shareholders.

Jefferies said Marathon ( MPC ) has taken steps to improve its margin capture, lifting its baseline capture rate from an average of 90% pre-COVID to closer to 100%, and it expects the company to "consistently maintain" a higher capture rate.

Marathon Petroleum ( MPC ) returned ~75% of operating cash flow through buybacks and dividends; "assuming a similar cadence in 2023-25, we see MPC generating cumulative OCF of ~$35B and repurchasing ~$23B or 38% of its market cap through 2025," according to the Jefferies analysts.

In an analysis published recently on Seeking Alpha, Steven Cress lists Marathon Petroleum ( MPC ) as one of his " top five stocks to ownin the S&P 500 ."

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