Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Strong-Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on MPLX. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Mplx in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.44.

Mplx Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE MPLX traded up $0.75 during trading on Thursday, reaching $47.15. 1,297,751 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,857,574. The company has a market capitalization of $48.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $44.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Mplx has a twelve month low of $35.31 and a twelve month high of $47.62.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.33%.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in Mplx by 47.8% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 14,976 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 4,844 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mplx by 1.8% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 560,590 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $24,913,000 after purchasing an additional 9,738 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Mplx by 8.9% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,409 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. grew its position in Mplx by 2.0% in the third quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 1,015,459 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $45,147,000 after buying an additional 19,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 60,475 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,689,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

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.