Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on MPLX. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.89.

Mplx Trading Up 2.8 %

MPLX opened at $52.57 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.17. Mplx has a fifty-two week low of $37.04 and a fifty-two week high of $52.76. The company has a market cap of $53.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.28%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total transaction of $188,960.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,790. The trade was a 21.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Mplx by 11.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,925 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mplx by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 361,257 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $15,386,000 after acquiring an additional 104,218 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 12,994 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 53,827 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,292,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 57,144 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,434,000 after purchasing an additional 5,404 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.