Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $45.11.

Mplx Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $41.11 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.24. The stock has a market cap of $41.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.35. Mplx has a fifty-two week low of $33.12 and a fifty-two week high of $42.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The pipeline company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 34.96% and a return on equity of 31.70%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.27%. Mplx’s payout ratio is 87.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PSI Advisors LLC grew its position in Mplx by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Mplx in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC purchased a new position in Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Mplx in the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Logistics and Storage, and Gathering and Processing. The company is involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas; gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids; gathering, storage, transportation, and distribution of crude oil and refined products, as well as other hydrocarbon-based products and renewables; and sale of residue gas and condensate.