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

Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $59.00.

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Mplx in a report on Monday, December 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Mplx from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Mplx in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Mplx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,736 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY grew its position in Mplx by 4.0% in the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 5,198 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Mplx by 0.8% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 25,081 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 3.5% during the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,069 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 4.9% during the second quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 4,602 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE MPLX opened at $55.22 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $54.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.84. Mplx has a 52-week low of $44.60 and a 52-week high of $57.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.56.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.45. Mplx had a net margin of 37.61% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $1.0765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. This represents a $4.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.8%. Mplx’s payout ratio is presently 91.31%.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership’s asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.