Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.50.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MPLX. Barclays lowered 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the purchase, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 7,788,063 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $416,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153,490 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Mplx by 141.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $95,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161,714 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Mplx by 5,070.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 977,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $46,797,000 after purchasing an additional 958,881 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,917,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Mplx by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,045,968 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $270,060,000 after purchasing an additional 654,489 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $50.54 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76. Mplx has a twelve month low of $39.95 and a twelve month high of $54.87.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Mplx’s payout ratio is 88.22%.

Mplx Company Profile

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.