Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Receives $59.00 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $59.00.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Mplx from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Mplx in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Mplx from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th.

Mplx Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:MPLX opened at $55.52 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $51.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 0.56. Mplx has a 12 month low of $44.60 and a 12 month high of $56.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 37.61%. Research analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a $1.0765 dividend. This represents a $4.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 91.31%.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its stake in Mplx by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 5,198 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mplx by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 25,081 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,069 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 4.9% during the second quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 4,602 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holderness Investments Co. grew its stake in Mplx by 2.6% in the third quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 8,945 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Crude Oil and Products Logistics and Natural Gas and NGL Services segments. The Crude Oil and Products Logistics segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.