Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.11.

Mplx Price Performance

NYSE:MPLX opened at $53.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $54.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.42. Mplx has a 12 month low of $38.44 and a 12 month high of $54.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $50.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.01.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.20%. Mplx’s payout ratio is currently 90.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. PFG Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Mplx by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 38,506 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after acquiring an additional 10,705 shares during the period. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 479.6% during the 4th quarter. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC now owns 153,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,351,000 after buying an additional 127,100 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 387.5% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 23,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 18,714 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 149,509 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,647,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 280,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $12,488,000 after buying an additional 19,320 shares during the period. 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 Logistics and Storage (L&S) and Gathering and Processing (G&P) segments. The Logistics and Storage segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.