Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Price Target Raised to $55.00

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its target price hoisted by Truist Financial from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

MPLX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.44.

Mplx Price Performance

NYSE MPLX opened at $48.27 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $44.90 and its 200-day moving average is $42.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $49.18 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.37. Mplx has a 12-month low of $35.51 and a 12-month high of $48.49.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Mplx’s payout ratio is currently 90.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total transaction of $188,960.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,790. This trade represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. ING Groep NV raised its position in shares of Mplx by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $294,699,000 after buying an additional 2,725,000 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in Mplx by 4,274.2% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 811,371 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 792,822 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Mplx by 387.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 823,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $36,611,000 after purchasing an additional 654,500 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 14,825,905 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $631,435,000 after purchasing an additional 353,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 5,224,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $217,148,000 after purchasing an additional 255,211 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.