Analysts Set Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Target Price at $47.67

Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.67.

Several brokerages recently commented on MPLX. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in Mplx during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the first quarter worth about $41,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 73.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 450.0% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Mplx in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Price Performance

MPLX stock opened at $44.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.40. Mplx has a 52-week low of $35.06 and a 52-week high of $45.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.17. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.68% and a net margin of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.65%. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Mplx’s payout ratio is 82.52%.

About Mplx

MPLX LP owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Logistics and Storage, and Gathering and Processing. The company is involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas; gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids; gathering, storage, transportation, and distribution of crude oil and refined products, as well as other hydrocarbon-based products and renewables; and sale of residue gas and condensate.