Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) to Issue $0.85 Quarterly Dividend

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.85 per share by the pipeline company on Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd.

Mplx has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 10 years. Mplx has a dividend payout ratio of 78.9% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Equities analysts expect Mplx to earn $4.36 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 78.0%.

Mplx Trading Up 0.7 %

MPLX traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.77. 2,044,724 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,197,166. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 1.35. Mplx has a 1-year low of $33.12 and a 1-year high of $42.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.85% and a net margin of 34.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James upped their price target on Mplx from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.86.

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.