Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

Separately, Barclays lifted their target price on Mplx from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.63.

Mplx Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of MPLX opened at $52.74 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $51.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.73. Mplx has a 1-year low of $39.95 and a 1-year high of $54.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 36.34%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Mplx’s payout ratio is currently 88.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 509.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 609 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.