Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.60.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mplx from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Mplx from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mplx by 4.1% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 24,049 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,287,000 after buying an additional 939 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 6.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,557 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 5.4% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 19,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $986,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 12.5% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 53,113 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,736,000 after purchasing an additional 5,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 62.5% during the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 6,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $57.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $58.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $55.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Mplx has a 12 month low of $47.80 and a 12 month high of $59.98.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.38% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $1.0765 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.29%.

About Mplx

MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership’s asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.