Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.8889.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MPLX. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Mplx in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Mplx in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mplx in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Operose Advisors LLC raised its position in Mplx by 216.2% in the 2nd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $51.27 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.74. Mplx has a twelve month low of $43.53 and a twelve month high of $54.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $50.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.02.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 30.95% and a net margin of 35.44%.Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.74%.

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.