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

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.00.

MPLX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Mplx from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Mplx from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on Mplx from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Mplx in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Mplx in a research report on Monday, December 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 24,049 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 8.1% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,715 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 7.7% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Mplx by 4.9% in the second quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 4,602 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 1.2% in the second quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 1,919,565 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $98,877,000 after purchasing an additional 23,135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE:MPLX opened at $55.92 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.01. Mplx has a 1 year low of $44.60 and a 1 year high of $57.15. The company has a market capitalization of $56.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.45. Mplx had a net margin of 37.61% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. On average, analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a $1.0765 dividend. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.31%.

About Mplx

MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership’s asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.