Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Receives $55.50 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MPLX shares. Wall Street Zen cut Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Mplx Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $51.34 on Friday. Mplx has a 52-week low of $39.95 and a 52-week high of $54.87. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 36.34%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Mplx’s payout ratio is 88.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in Mplx by 38.2% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 7,788,063 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $416,817,000 after buying an additional 2,153,490 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Mplx by 141.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $95,011,000 after buying an additional 1,161,714 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Mplx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,917,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Mplx by 14.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,045,968 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $270,060,000 after buying an additional 654,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in Mplx by 221.9% in the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 643,995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,822,000 after buying an additional 443,910 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

About Mplx

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.