Brokerages Set Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) PT at $47.38

Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.88.

A number of research firms have recently commented on MPLX. Barclays upped their target price on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Mplx in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MPLX. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its stake in Mplx by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 14,825,905 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $631,435,000 after purchasing an additional 353,324 shares in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 5,580,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $248,089,000 after acquiring an additional 34,659 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 5,224,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $217,148,000 after acquiring an additional 255,211 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Mplx by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,200,759 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $216,144,000 after purchasing an additional 201,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 7.8% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 2,571,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $109,534,000 after purchasing an additional 186,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MPLX opened at $44.32 on Monday. Mplx has a fifty-two week low of $35.06 and a fifty-two week high of $45.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is $43.09 and its 200 day moving average is $42.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.68% and a net margin of 35.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.63%.

Mplx Company Profile

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.