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Google Finance: Analyzing Marathon Petroleum (MHR)

Google Finance offers a readily accessible platform for tracking and analyzing the performance of publicly traded companies like Marathon Petroleum (MHR). While the ticker symbol previously associated with Marathon Petroleum is now defunct due to corporate restructuring, Google Finance remains a useful tool for examining historical data, news, and related information about the company’s evolution.

Understanding the Context

It’s important to understand that Marathon Petroleum underwent significant changes. Speedway, its retail segment, was spun off and later acquired. The remaining entity continues under the Marathon Petroleum name, focusing primarily on refining, marketing, and transportation of petroleum products. Therefore, when using Google Finance to analyze “MHR” data, you’re primarily viewing historical performance *prior* to these major corporate actions.

Key Features on Google Finance (Historical Data)

Price Charts: Examining historical price charts provides insights into MHR’s past volatility, trends (uptrends, downtrends, sideways movement), and key support and resistance levels. You can adjust the time frame to analyze daily, weekly, monthly, or even yearly data.
Financial Statements: Although historical, the financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement) available on Google Finance offer a glimpse into Marathon Petroleum’s past financial health. Analyze revenue, expenses, profits, assets, liabilities, and cash flow trends over several years. While this data doesn’t reflect the current structure, it’s valuable for understanding the company’s operational history.
Related News: Google Finance aggregates news articles related to Marathon Petroleum. Reviewing past news can provide context for price movements and significant events that impacted the company’s performance.
Key Statistics: Even with the structural changes, some historical key statistics like price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), earnings per share (EPS), dividend yield (if applicable), and market capitalization (pre-restructuring) are accessible. These can be used to compare MHR to its historical performance and to other companies in the energy sector *at that time*.

Limitations and Considerations

Due to the significant corporate restructuring, caution is crucial when using Google Finance for analysis. The historical “MHR” data *does not* represent the current state of Marathon Petroleum. The performance of Speedway, for example, is no longer included in the reported numbers. Furthermore:

Outdated Information: Past performance is not indicative of future results, especially after major corporate events. Relying solely on historical MHR data for investment decisions would be misleading.
Restructuring Impact: The spin-off of Speedway significantly altered Marathon Petroleum’s business model and financial profile. Historical data doesn’t reflect this new reality.
Need for Current Data: For accurate analysis, you must consult current financial reports and disclosures from Marathon Petroleum directly, or use financial data providers that reflect the restructured entity.

Conclusion

Google Finance provides a valuable tool for accessing historical information about Marathon Petroleum (MHR) *prior* to its restructuring. While useful for understanding the company’s past performance, it’s critical to recognize the limitations and to supplement this information with current data and analysis to make informed decisions about the present-day Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

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