Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $54.00.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MPLX shares. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $54.02 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Mplx has a 12-month low of $39.56 and a 12-month high of $54.87. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $53.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.89. The firm has a market cap of $55.23 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.08%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of Mplx stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CFO4Life Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 19,200 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $919,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Mplx by 0.4% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 60,475 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,689,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Mplx by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 21,520 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Finally, GraniteShares Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 51,441 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,462,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Logistics and Storage (L&S) and Gathering and Processing (G&P) segments. The Logistics and Storage segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.