Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

by · The Markets Daily

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

MPLX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Mplx in a report on Monday, December 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Mplx from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Mplx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.14.

Check Out Our Latest Report on MPLX

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX opened at $58.64 on Friday. Mplx has a twelve month low of $44.60 and a twelve month high of $59.84. The company has a market capitalization of $59.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $55.93 and a 200 day moving average of $53.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The pipeline company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 37.79%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $1.0765 per share. This represents a $4.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is 89.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 5,611,824 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $280,311,000 after buying an additional 120,216 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new stake in Mplx in the 3rd quarter worth $990,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mplx by 53.2% during the third quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 103,351 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,162,000 after acquiring an additional 35,869 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Mplx during the third quarter valued at about $2,698,000. Finally, Natixis lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 1,585.3% in the second quarter. Natixis now owns 403,758 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $20,798,000 after acquiring an additional 379,800 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mplx

(Get Free Report)

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.

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