Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.68% and a net margin of 35.95%. Mplx’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS.

Mplx Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of MPLX traded up $0.54 on Thursday, hitting $46.98. 2,672,699 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,828,126. The company has a market capitalization of $47.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37. Mplx has a one year low of $35.07 and a one year high of $47.62. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.49.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MPLX. Barclays upped their price target on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

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.