Stifel Nicolaus Begins Coverage on Mplx (NYSE:MPLX)

Equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) in a research report issued on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price target on the pipeline company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target indicates a potential upside of 9.01% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Mplx from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Wolfe Research lowered Mplx from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Mplx in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Mplx from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.80.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $59.63. The company had a trading volume of 25,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,710,686. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market cap of $60.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $58.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.25. Mplx has a one year low of $47.80 and a one year high of $60.95.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.06. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.83% and a net margin of 35.75%.The business had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advus Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 3.2% in the second quarter. Advus Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,191 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Mplx by 1.4% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,069 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Mplx by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 22,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,266,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 5,658 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burford Brothers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 17,449 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $931,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mplx

MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX) is a master limited partnership that owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure in the United States. The company provides transportation, storage and processing services for crude oil, refined products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs), supporting producers, refiners and other energy customers.

MPLX’s assets include gathering and processing systems, pipelines, storage facilities, fractionation plants, marine terminals and inland and coastal logistics operations.