Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $45.11.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MPLX. StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays upped their price target on Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX opened at $41.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.91 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.12. Mplx has a 52-week low of $33.12 and a 52-week high of $42.90.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The pipeline company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.70% and a net margin of 34.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. Mplx’s payout ratio is currently 87.63%.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Granite Group Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Granite Group Advisors LLC now owns 12,329 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the first quarter valued at $885,000. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 152.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 34,462 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 20,788 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 486.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 133,685 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,556,000 after buying an additional 110,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter worth about $1,396,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.