Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $46.22.

Mplx Price Performance

Mplx stock opened at $41.42 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $41.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Mplx has a 12-month low of $34.47 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.17. Mplx had a net margin of 34.96% and a return on equity of 31.70%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.21%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.63%.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 47.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 51,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,150,000 after buying an additional 16,637 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 170.6% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 637,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $23,394,000 after buying an additional 401,700 shares during the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter worth $1,253,000. Capital Advisors Inc. OK acquired a new position in Mplx in the fourth quarter worth $2,878,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Mplx in the first quarter worth $799,000. 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.