Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.96 Per Share

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of 0.9565 per share by the pipeline company on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.24%. 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 has raised its dividend by an average of 4.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. Mplx has a dividend payout ratio of 86.8% indicating that 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 $4.51 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.83 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 84.9%.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $46.42 on Thursday. Mplx has a 12-month low of $35.07 and a 12-month high of $46.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.49. The firm has a market cap of $47.38 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MPLX. StockNews.com downgraded Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America assumed 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.67.

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.