Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.50.

MPLX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MPLX. Chelsea Counsel Co. lifted its position in Mplx by 66.7% in the first quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 25,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the first quarter valued at about $1,000,000. Integrity Alliance LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the first quarter valued at about $712,000. Glenview Trust co purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the first quarter valued at about $214,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the first quarter valued at about $2,269,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Trading Up 0.4%

MPLX opened at $50.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.65. Mplx has a 1-year low of $39.95 and a 1-year high of $54.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.57%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.