Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on MPLX. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.11.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX opened at $53.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.14 and its 200-day moving average is $47.31. Mplx has a fifty-two week low of $38.44 and a fifty-two week high of $54.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Mplx by 139.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Mplx

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Logistics and Storage (L&S) and Gathering and Processing (G&P) segments. The Logistics and Storage segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.