UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its target price raised by analysts at UBS Group from $51.00 to $55.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 16.97% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays raised their target price on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.44.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPLX opened at $47.02 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.71. Mplx has a 1-year low of $35.31 and a 1-year high of $47.62. 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 company has a market cap of $47.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. ING Groep NV raised its position in shares of Mplx by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $294,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,000 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 4,274.2% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 811,371 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 792,822 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 387.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 823,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $36,611,000 after acquiring an additional 654,500 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 2.4% during the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 14,825,905 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $631,435,000 after acquiring an additional 353,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC increased its position in Mplx by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 5,224,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $217,148,000 after purchasing an additional 255,211 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.