Mplx Lp Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.85 (NYSE:MPLX)

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

Mplx has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 10 consecutive 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 decline. Equities research 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 Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.77. The company had a trading volume of 2,044,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,197,166. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Mplx has a one year low of $33.12 and a one year high of $42.89. The company has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 1.35.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com raised Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Mplx from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.