Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Raises Dividend to $1.21 Per Share

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $1.2111 per share by the pipeline company on Friday, November 13th. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. This is a 12.5% increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.0765.

Mplx has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 9 years. Mplx has a payout ratio of 88.7% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Equities analysts expect Mplx to earn $4.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 91.7%.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MPLX opened at $58.09 on Wednesday. Mplx has a 52 week low of $50.22 and a 52 week high of $60.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $58.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 0.49.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06. The firm had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Mplx’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MPLX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Mplx from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Mplx in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Mplx from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mplx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.80.

About Mplx

MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX) is a master limited partnership that owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure in the United States. The company provides services for the gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs).

MPLX’s assets include crude oil and refined-products pipelines, natural gas gathering and processing systems, NGL fractionation facilities, storage terminals and marine transportation infrastructure. Through its logistics and storage operations, the company supports the movement of hydrocarbons from producing regions to refineries, export facilities and other domestic markets.

The company serves several major U.S.