Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com cut shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday.

MPLX has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mplx has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $45.11.

Mplx Price Performance

NYSE MPLX opened at $42.32 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.47. Mplx has a twelve month low of $33.33 and a twelve month high of $42.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.01 billion, a PE ratio of 10.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The pipeline company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.01). Mplx had a net margin of 34.96% and a return on equity of 31.70%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. Mplx’s payout ratio is 87.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. NBW Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 2.1% during the first quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 277,436 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,530,000 after acquiring an additional 5,575 shares during the period. Granite Group Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Granite Group Advisors LLC now owns 12,329 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 1st quarter valued at about $885,000. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 152.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 34,462 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 20,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 486.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 133,685 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,556,000 after buying an additional 110,880 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.