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

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.44.

Several research firms have weighed in on MPLX. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of Mplx stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total value of $188,960.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,790. The trade was a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 7.4% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 280,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,488,000 after purchasing an additional 19,320 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its position in shares of Mplx by 69.8% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $294,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,000 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 22.0% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 81,884 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,487,000 after purchasing an additional 14,782 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 27.2% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 52,128 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,318,000 after acquiring an additional 11,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 40.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 361,257 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $15,386,000 after acquiring an additional 104,218 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Trading Down 0.8 %

MPLX opened at $49.09 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.01 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.37. Mplx has a 1-year low of $35.51 and a 1-year high of $49.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.01.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.79%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.33%.

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.