Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Receives $61.60 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $61.60.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mplx from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th.

Mplx Price Performance

Mplx stock opened at $56.53 on Friday. Mplx has a 52-week low of $47.80 and a 52-week high of $59.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.24, a PEG ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 36.38%.Mplx’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new position in Mplx in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Mplx by 81.5% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 559 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Mplx in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Prosperity Bancshares Inc acquired a new position in Mplx in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

About Mplx

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.