Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.00.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MPLX shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Mplx from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th.

Mplx Stock Down 0.1%

Mplx stock opened at $55.17 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $56.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.56. Mplx has a twelve month low of $44.60 and a twelve month high of $56.26.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 37.61%. On average, analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $1.0765 per share. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.8%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management acquired a new position in Mplx in the second quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC now owns 242,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,481,000 after purchasing an additional 31,300 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the 2nd quarter valued at $330,000. Jump Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 349.2% during the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 118,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,347,000 after buying an additional 92,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the second quarter valued at $776,894,000. Hedge funds and other 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.