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

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.50.

Several analysts have issued reports on MPLX shares. Barclays cut their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,904,477 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $330,448,000 after buying an additional 266,998 shares during the last quarter. Bramshill Investments LLC lifted its stake in Mplx by 71.4% in the fourth quarter. Bramshill Investments LLC now owns 30,130 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after acquiring an additional 12,556 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Mplx by 9,134.1% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 11,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 11,509 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 221.9% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 643,995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,822,000 after purchasing an additional 443,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 18,520 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 5,965 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Stock Down 0.1%

MPLX stock opened at $51.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $52.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.74. Mplx has a 12 month low of $39.95 and a 12 month high of $54.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.97.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.39%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is 88.22%.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Crude Oil and Products Logistics and Natural Gas and NGL Services segments. The Crude Oil and Products Logistics segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.