Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Sets New 52-Week High Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $53.73 and last traded at $53.77, with a volume of 539130 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $52.63.

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 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MPLX. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.50.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In other news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 33.9% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 35,432 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,509,000 after buying an additional 8,979 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mplx during the 2nd quarter valued at $826,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at $422,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Mplx by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,110 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha Cubed Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter worth about $204,000. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Stock Performance

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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $49.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.91. The company has a market cap of $54.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.42.

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.