Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on MPLX. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.89.

Mplx Price Performance

MPLX stock opened at $52.57 on Friday. Mplx has a 1 year low of $37.04 and a 1 year high of $52.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $53.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.17.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). The business 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 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 90.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of Mplx stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total transaction of $188,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares in the company, valued at $696,790. The trade was a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Mplx by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 393.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,751 shares during the period. Archford Capital Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Mplx in the 4th quarter worth approximately $200,000. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Mplx

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.