Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.45 EPS

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The pipeline company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.45, Zacks reports. Mplx had a return on equity of 30.95% and a net margin of 35.44%.The business had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion.

Mplx Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded up $0.15 on Tuesday, reaching $51.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,353,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,585,334. Mplx has a twelve month low of $44.60 and a twelve month high of $54.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $50.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a $1.0765 dividend. This represents a $4.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.4%. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MPLX shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded Mplx from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on Mplx from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Mplx from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.50.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 27.7% in the 2nd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 41,751 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,192,000 after purchasing an additional 9,064 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Mplx by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 39,069 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,012,000 after acquiring an additional 7,828 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Mplx by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 72,913 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,756,000 after acquiring an additional 2,974 shares during the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Mplx during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Visionary Wealth Advisors grew its position in Mplx by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 5,866 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.