Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $61.60.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MPLX shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Mplx from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Mplx from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $56.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $57.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $55.79 and its 200-day moving average is $55.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.10. Mplx has a 52 week low of $47.80 and a 52 week high of $59.98.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.38% and a return on equity of 32.74%. Mplx’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $1.0765 dividend. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Mplx’s payout ratio is 93.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Mplx by 0.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,561,938 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $977,119,000 after purchasing an additional 143,361 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Mplx by 8.3% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,873,619 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $508,590,000 after purchasing an additional 757,569 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Mplx by 4.4% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,060,024 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $352,648,000 after purchasing an additional 300,321 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Mplx by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,763,110 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $307,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 2.1% in the third quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 5,659,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $282,711,000 after purchasing an additional 118,090 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership’s asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.