Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $48.00 to $55.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Mplx traded as high as $47.71 and last traded at $47.48, with a volume of 214664 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.46.

Several other research firms have also commented on MPLX. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.44.

Insider Activity at Mplx

In other news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total transaction of $188,960.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,790. This represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 2.1% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 24,201 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mplx by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,488 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $689,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in Mplx in the third quarter valued at $2,023,000. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 4.9% in the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,933,486 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $85,963,000 after buying an additional 90,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in Mplx by 387.5% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 23,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 18,714 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $44.80 and its 200-day moving average is $42.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. Analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.04%. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Mplx’s payout ratio is presently 90.09%.

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.