Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Mplx in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.88.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $44.32 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. Mplx has a 12 month low of $35.06 and a 12 month high of $45.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.68% and a net margin of 35.95%. The business’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 2.4% during the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 14,825,905 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $631,435,000 after acquiring an additional 353,324 shares in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 0.6% in the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 5,580,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $248,089,000 after buying an additional 34,659 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 5.1% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 5,224,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $217,148,000 after buying an additional 255,211 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Mplx by 4.0% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,200,759 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $216,144,000 after purchasing an additional 201,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its position in shares of Mplx by 7.8% during the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 2,571,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $109,534,000 after purchasing an additional 186,084 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

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.