MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX) Receives $55.89 Average PT from Analysts

Key Points

• Mplx Lp has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from nine brokerages, with seven ratings for buy, one for hold, and one for sell.
• The average twelve-month price target for Mplx shares is $55.89, with recent analysts raising their price targets to as high as $60.00.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9565, representing an annualized yield of 7.6% and a payout ratio of approximately 90.97%.

MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.8889.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MPLX shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MPLX from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on MPLX from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut MPLX from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on MPLX from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MPLX

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MPLX in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MPLX by 5.2% in the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,048,144 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $53,990,000 after acquiring an additional 51,367 shares during the period. TT Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MPLX by 540.1% in the second quarter. TT Capital Management LLC now owns 28,147 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,433,000 after acquiring an additional 23,750 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of MPLX by 5.2% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 34,012 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,752,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in shares of MPLX by 27.7% in the second quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 41,751 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,192,000 after acquiring an additional 9,064 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MPLX Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of MPLX traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $50.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,483,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,436,769. The firm has a market cap of $51.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.74. MPLX has a 1-year low of $42.06 and a 1-year high of $54.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.33.

MPLX (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. MPLX had a net margin of 35.44% and a return on equity of 30.95%. MPLX's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict 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, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. MPLX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.97%.

About MPLX

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.