Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Raises Dividend to $0.96 Per Share

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of 0.9565 per share by the pipeline company on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85.

Mplx has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.9% per year over the last three years. Mplx has a dividend payout ratio of 77.1% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Equities research analysts expect Mplx to earn $4.51 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 75.4%.

Mplx Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MPLX traded down $0.37 on Wednesday, hitting $44.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,984,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,818,582. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.31. Mplx has a 1 year low of $35.06 and a 1 year high of $45.24. The stock has a market cap of $45.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.17. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.68% and a net margin of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.67.

Mplx Company Profile

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.