Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.50.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX stock traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $50.30. 199,106 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,666,586. Mplx has a fifty-two week low of $39.95 and a fifty-two week high of $54.87. The stock's fifty day moving average is $51.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.27. The company has a market cap of $51.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.34% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Mplx's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Mplx's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.45%.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mplx by 0.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,649,224 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $730,506,000 after acquiring an additional 83,392 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 7,788,063 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $416,817,000 after buying an additional 2,153,490 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,955,456 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $372,256,000 after buying an additional 50,979 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,045,968 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $270,060,000 after buying an additional 654,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 4,221,615 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $202,047,000 after buying an additional 79,799 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

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.